Stuck Between the Two
by iMmoRtaLfrEnD704
Summary: A guy who unluckily gets paired with many women, who has many guys wishing they were him, who doesn't care about anything but the clouds and his life plan. That will change once he sees them. The troublesome blonde kunoichis.Warn:Story I'm least proud of
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**A/N: **This is just the prologue. Don't worry! The next chapter will be much longer and less of a filler. This is basically the setting and a little overview about Shikamaru. I think it's still a little fun to read though.

**Published November 1, 2006**

**Prologue**

If you say the name, Nara Shikamaru, a handful of girls would crowd around you and talk about how wonderful he was. Who could blame them? He had an IQ over 200 which spread across Konoha like wildfire. He was greatly known as the only genin to become a Chuunin when the exams included the prodigies, Sabaku no Gaara, Uchiha Sasuke, and Hyuuga Neji. Shikamaru was anything but a prodigy.

He may have been a genius, but you would have never noticed it. He was also known as the laziest ninja in all of Konoha. The boy who would sleep through class, only want to watch clouds all day, and have an average, easy, ninja life. He even had a life plan for when he got married. As quoted by Shikamaru himself, 'I was going to be a decent ninja, earn a decent salary, marry a decent woman who is neither beautiful nor ugly, and have two decent children. The first one would be a girl and the next be a boy. After the daughter got married and the son becomes independent, I would retire as a Ninja and spend all day playing Shogi and Go, and enjoy the retired life. And finally die before the wife, due to old age.'

Things have changed since Shikamaru was 12. He still thinks females are troublesome. He still likes to watch the clouds. He is still has his lazy attitude and overuses the word 'troublesome'.

He still has the same personality, but he's 16 now. He's still a Chuunin, but he rarely goes on missions ever since the Fifth Hokage transferred him to be a 'Special Chuunin' which was a new role made just for Shikamaru. He wouldn't go on missions unless needed; instead he would help Tsunade with paperwork. This was just an excuse to get Tsunade out of doing hard work like taxes and whatnot.

Things weren't getting any easier for Shikamaru though. He had a skylight (a window on the ceiling) in his office, but he was always too busy with paperwork to even glance up at it.

What was even worse about being a 'Special' was being ordered to do many odd jobs that Tsunade would only give to Shikamaru. The worst task had to be having to be a tour guide. He had to escort many Jounin around Konoha; most were liaisons that were going to see Tsunade for an ally agreement. There was something even worse than this. Shikamaru had to escort…_her_. Her name sent shivers up Shikamaru's spine…Sabaku no Temari. She just happened to be the liaison for the Suna. She was the most troublesome woman, even more troublesome than his own mother, Shikamaru had ever known.

That had started many rumors. Rumors had gone around saying that Shikamaru had dated Ino, Temari, Sakura, Hinata, Tenten, and the Sound-nin Rin…at the same time. 'How could I date four Konoha girls who are somewhat friends, a girl I've never met or talked to until the Chuunin Exams and only the Chuunin Exams, and a girl from the Sand Village who was more troublesome than my mother?' Shikamaru would wonder many times as many random people would ask if this rumor was true. How anyone could think that was possible was crazy. What was even more ludicrous was when villagers thought Shikamaru was dating Tsunade. If you didn't think it could get more ridiculous than that, how about the fact that many soon gossiped that Shikamaru got Ino _and_ Temari pregnant at the _same time_?! Sure Shikamaru had a tendency of being around females, against his will of course, but it didn't mean that he was bearing their children, dating them, or even thinking about having a relationship of more than friends with any of them.

This was the life of Nara Shikamaru. A 16 year-old, who wasn't very lucky when it came to women, one thing the genius couldn't understand, with a very troublesome life.

* * *

**A/N: **Yup, that was it…for now! 


	2. Chapter 1 One Too Many

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I just don't!**

**A/N: My story written for the annual Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month). It's my first time in participating in it, so yeah. Hope you like the story!**

**Warning: There's a spoilers if you haven't read chapter 328. You've probably been spoiled to it already, but if you haven't, I don't want to spoil it for you.**

**Published November 3, 2006**

**Chapter 1 - One Too Many**

"Wanna go out tonight?" A blonde kunoichi asked with a smile. She was expecting a definite yes.

"No." The pineapple headed boy spoke plainly and coldly.

"But why not?! It's a perfect day for a _date_!" The blonde said with emphasis on 'date'.

"I said no. It's too troublesome." He crossed his arms and closed his eyes gently.

"You always say that! Come on! I want to go out!"

"Then you go out. I'm staying in here." Shikamaru put his hands behind his head and relaxed on his chair. "You're a nag." He bluntly said.

"Ugh! Shikamaru! _That's_ it! You're not worth all this…_trouble_!" The flaxen haired girl shouted. She couldn't think of any more fit word. "Hmph!" She crossed her arms and stomped her feet until she was out of the door. She slammed the door hard enough for a couple of picture frames on Shikamaru's desk to fall off.

'One down, a million more fangirls to go.' He thought in his head as the blonde intern left. 'I get an office in the Hokage's building and _this_ is what I get? A hundred interns a day asking for a date with me.' He sighed as he got off of his chair to pick up the fallen picture frames. 'How troublesome. If the photos come out of their frame, Chouji will have to put them back in their frames.' He thought as he picked up one of the frames. He sighed again at a depressing sight. The first picture he picked up had Asuma and himself in it. Shikamaru couldn't help but let out another sigh. 'Still miss him too much.' Shikamaru sat down on the floor. He might as well keep looking at the pictures and reminisce.

First he looked at the picture of Asuma and himself. It was in a silver frame with curled vine embroidery. Asuma had a wide grin on his face while Shikamaru had his arms crossed and his signature bored look on his face. Shikamaru stared at the photo for many moments. Then he closed his eyes and put it down. 'Next.' He thought as he moved his hand around to find the closest picture frame to bring back memories. The frame he touched first was silver plastic and had four small square frames with Shikamaru in each one. The top left square had his best friend, Chouji in it. Chouji was standing next to Shikamaru and smiling sincerely. Shikamaru had his hands in his pockets with almost a smile on his face, but not quite there yet. The photo on the right of it had Naruto in it. 'Naruto…' Naruto was grinning as wide as ever with his arm leaning on Shikamaru's shoulder. Shikamaru had his arms crossed again with that same bored look, this time he was also irritated. Diagonal from that photo was himself with Kiba. Again, Shikamaru had his same pose. Kiba looked just like Naruto with a wide grin, leaning on Shikamaru's shoulder. 'What's up with them putting their elbow on my shoulder? I'm not that tall.' Shikamaru thought wondered his ever-so-troublesome brain. He finally came to a conclusion that it would be too troublesome to think of an answer. Who could _truly_ understand Kiba and Naruto anyways? Shikamaru sighed once again and picked up the last picture frame that had fallen down. Shikamaru couldn't help but have another heavy sigh. The pictures in the frame were halfway out. Shikamaru was too lazy to try to put them in, so he decided to look at the pictures and leave the pushing in of the pictures to an intern or something. The frame was kind of odd. It was in the shape of two hearts connected together. The left side had Ino in it and the right side had Temari in it. 'Nani (what)?' Shikamaru asked himself. Another sigh left Shikamaru's mouth. 'Chouji…' Shikamaru concluded easily. 'I didn't even know I had a frame like this.' Then a thought hit him like…a bowling ball dropping on your pinky toe. 'How did Chouji get a picture of Ino _and_ Temari? Sure Ino maybe, but Temari?' One after another, puzzling questions entered Shikamaru's head. 'Where did he take this picture?' Shikamaru looked at the background, a fake plain-colored background you see in studios or when you take school pictures. 'Being a 'Special' really makes you miss out on a lot of things.' He turned the frame over and saw that the back of Ino's and Temari's picture had writing on it.

Shikamaru took out Ino's picture from the frame and read the back. It was indeed Ino's handwriting, in blue ink.

_**Hey, Shika-kun! You probably will never have the time or energy to read this, but if Chouji reads it for you or something, I just wanted to say what a great friend you are. If you're wondering how Chouji took a picture of me, well, it's a long story that would be 'too troublesome' to explain. I'm sorry I had to miss your birthday! I really wanted to be there! Damn, Hokage-sama had to assign me on a mission last minute. Well, I hope you have a wonderful birthday, Shika!**_

_**- Ino**_

There was more writing on the bottom right-hand corner written in red ink. It was very small, but still readable.

**_P.S. If you do ever happen to read this, I just wanted to ask, would you go out on a date with me?_**

'Nani (what)?!' Was all Shikamaru could think at the moment. He was clueless, if anything, when it came to girls and love and anything like that. It just wasn't his forte. 'Ino likes me?' '_No, duh!_' His inner-self spoke. 'I was just a little surprised she wrote it.' Shikamaru defended against himself. '_Sure…so are you going to say yes, or what?_' 'Of course not. She's like my sister, not my girlfriend.' '_Doesn't mean you can't go on a date with her._' 'There's no point of a troublesome date with a troublesome girl if you know there would be nothing more than a friendship. I am _not_ going to lead her on.' '_Don't try to lecture your inner-self!_' 'Yeah, yeah.' Shikamaru pause to think. 'This must've been written last year. That was the only year she missed my birthday. I wonder if she even remembers she wrote it.'

Shikamaru put down Ino's picture and placed it halfway into the frame, like it was before. Then he took Temari's picture and read the back of it. It was most definitely her writing, messy and smudged. She was never good with pens. The ink was black, just legible enough for Shikamaru to read without thinking it was troublesome.

**_Sup, genius? How you've been doing? I've been doing a damn good job as a Jounin. Too bad I had to be a liaison and stuck with you. ;D Sorry I had to miss your birthday. Really! Damn Gaara put me on a mission because Kankuro was "busy". I say he was just lazy like you. I would've gotten you a present but then I thought it would be too troublesome for you to open, so oh well! No present for you! I bet you were wondering how that 'big-boned' friend of yours got me to pose looking ever-so wonderful. Well, long story short, I really have no idea. That guy's just very persuasive._**

There was another paragraph in Temari's note. It seemed to be written at a different time, with the same pen, but more legible.

**_I know you won't be reading this anytime soon, so when you do read this I'd be ready to ask you, do you like me more than a friend? I mean as in a relationship of more than friends, like a girlfriend? I've been hearing too many rumors and had to ask. Either answer you give to me, when you do give it to me, will have deadly consequences! So choose wisely on your punishment!_**

_**P.S. Chouji let me read a note from Ino to you. You better say yes to her, or she'll kill you before I can! ;D**_

_**- Temari**_

'Chouji…' Shikamaru shook his head. 'You are truly my best friend.'

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Shikamaru stood up from the floor and put the three picture frames back onto his table. He sat back down in his chair and called up a Jounin assistant (like Shizune).

Two minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Shikamaru lazily said.

The door opened. "Yes, Shikamaru-san. What are your orders?" A rather tall man asked seriously.

"I would like you to send a message to Akimichi Chouji. He is ordered to come into my office immediately." Shikamaru ordered very professionally, sounding like the Hokage.

"Yes, Shikamaru-san." The Jounin turned around and closed the door behind him.

Shikamaru sighed and leaned on his chair more, putting his hands behind his head. 'I wonder how Chouji's doing.' The lazy Chuunin thought as he closed his eyes and drifted off to take a nap.

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There was yet another knock on the door only minutes after Shikamaru dozed off.

"Come in." Shikamaru said as lazily as possible, wiping some drool off of his mouth.

"You ordered me to come, Shikamaru?" An all-around large, 16 year-old walked in.

"Hey Chouji. Another intern asked me out and slammed the door when I said no. Some pictures fell and I wanted you to help put them back in place." Shikamaru explained quickly in one long sentence.

Chouji sighed with a smile. "Shikamaru…how would you ever survive without me?" Chouji joked to Shikamaru.

"I don't think I could." Shikamaru caught the joke and replied.

"Well, are these the frames?" Chouji lifted the three frames that weren't standing up.

"Mm." Shikamaru nodded.

"Okay…" Chouji started to arrange the frames back onto Shikamaru's desk. "Uh, is there anything else?" Chouji asked while rearranging many picture frames on Shikamaru's desk.

"N-Well actually, there is something I wanted to ask."

"Uh-huh."

"The frame with the hearts, with Ino and Temari in it, what is it?"

"What do you mean 'what is it'? It's a frame shaped in two hearts with Ino and Temari in it." Chouji said simply, like it was really that straightforward.

"Chouji!" Shikamaru stared at Chouji with a 'that's-not-what-I-meant-and-you-know-it.' look.

"Okay, okay. I was just having fun with the pictures. I mean when you give me a bunch of pictures and tell me to put them into the frames it's not my fault that they just happen to fit in the frame perfectly."

"That _may_ be true, but I think I would remember having a picture of Temari." Shikamaru pointed out.

"Are you saying that you like her?"

"No! I'm just saying it would be very hard to get a picture of Temari."

Chouji lowered his head, slouching, and sighed. "Okay…you caught me." He faced Shikamaru and sat in a chair he dragged over from the wall. "You read the back didn't you? Is that why the pictures were half-in-half-out?"

Shikamaru nodded. "Well, actually…no…too troublesome to explain."

Chouji shrugged it off. "Well, right after your birthday party, I decided since Ino wasn't able to make it, I would help her give a gift to you. Ino had been trying to choose a present for you for many months but still didn't know what to get you. Then I thought of the idea of giving you a picture of her when I passed the Academy and they were handing out school pictures. You never had a picture of Ino alone, so I thought it would be a nice present. Ino decided to write on the back of the photo, too, like the students did. And yeah…" Chouji explained like it was just yesterday.

"What about Temari? I have to know how you _actually_,_ willingly_, got Temari to take a troublesome picture."

Chouji scratched the back of his head. "It was actually pretty easy. In the beginning, I wasn't really sure if I should ask Temari since she was in Suna and would only visit as a liaison or after a mission around here. Luckily, she came back to Konoha a week later. She _was_ going to meet you after meeting with the Hokage…or so she said." Chouji insinuated.

"She doesn't like me that way!" Shikamaru tried to make Chouji _and_ himself believe.

"Yeah, right." Chouji said sarcastically. "Anyways…Temari was walking down the streets of Konoha and saw me. She asked how your party was and we talked a little. Then she told me she didn't get a present for you, so it wasn't _so_ _bad_ that she missed your birthday. I told her about the idea of a school photo kind of thing and she surprisingly agreed." Chouji paused for a couple of seconds. "Oh yeah, and Ino and Temari never met when I took their pictures. Just to let you know."

"Good to know." Shikamaru mumbled.

There was silence for a good minute or so.

"So…" Chouji tried to strike up a conversation.

"So what?"

"_So_…are you going to accept Ino's date and tell Temari that you like her more than a friend?" Chouji couldn't help but ask. He had been holding it in for almost a year now.

"No." Shikamaru answered simply.

"_No_?! No to what?" Chouji wanted to know.

"No to both."

"But Shikamaru! Do you know what you're missing out on?!" Chouji really wanted Shikamaru to say yes to at least one of his questions.

"A troublesome date with a troublesome girl and a troublesome relationship with an even more troublesome woman?" Shikamaru stated and asked at the same time.

"_No_…you're missing your chance to have a relationship with one _or_ two beautiful kunoichis!" Chouji pointed out like it was in plain sight. "Do you know _just_ how many guys would _love_ to be in your shoes right now? Any _other_ guy, even I, would say yes to one of the girls, or even both!"

"Well that's great for you." Shikamaru said, half sarcastically.

"Come on, Shikamaru. Can you _really_, _truly_, say that you have never felt _anything_, _anything _at all, for Ino and Temari?" Chouji asked seriously.

Shikamaru could only sigh before thinking of his answer. "I guess you're right. I _have_ had a crush on Ino and Temari one time or another."

Chouji grinned. "It's no big deal! Ino and Temari are two of the hottest kunoichis Konoha has ever seen. You're pretty lucky you get to choose between the two."

"No, not really."

"Why not?"

"If I say yes to one, I'll have to say no to the other."

"Oh…" Chouji sighed at Shikamaru's situation. "So, who do you want at your funeral?"

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**A/N:** These chapters are much shorter than my other FanFiction 'Not a Relaxing Vacation'. I hope you liked it. I seriously could've done better setting the story up. I thought the last line was very funny though. It just popped up. I seriously have no idea what's going to happen next, so if anyone has anything they want to have happen, tell me! I tried to make Ino and Temari as in-character as possible, but it was getting kind of hard, so if they're OOC, gomen (sorry)!


	3. Chapter 2 Finding Two of a Kind

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, Shikamaru would be referred to pineapple-head _a lot_ in the manga _and _anime.**

**A/N: **I'll be posting the next chapter whenever I'm done with it. This story isn't getting very much publicity yet, so I think I might start to ask for help! You don't want me to beg do you! I finished this chapter yesterday, but I wanted to post it a little later so it won't seem like I'm going too quickly. Writing 1,667 words a day is getting really hard! I think I'm truly getting too old.

**Published November 5, 2006**

**Chapter 2 - Finding Two of a Kind**

Shikamaru was now in a complicated predicament. He had to answer both kunoichis' question. If he said 'yes' to one girl, he'd have to say 'no' to the other. The Nara boy couldn't even figure out which girl would be worse to disappoint. Either way, he was dead, so did it really matter?

"If I say 'no' to Ino…" Shikamaru thought of the possibilities.

"You'd die." Chouji said bluntly.

"If I say 'no' to Temari…" Shikamaru thought the same possibilities.

"You'd die." Chouji repeated. Then he cleared his throat and opened a bag of chips. Where the bags of chips came from shall be a mystery. "Maybe you should think about what will happen if you say 'yes' to one of them."

"Hmm…if I say 'yes' to Ino…" Shikamaru thought yet again.

"…you'd be going out on a date with a beautiful blonde, probably having a somewhat of a good time, go back to her place, maybe make-out, she'll ask for another date, you'll have no choice but to say 'yes', and it repeats from there." Chouji munched on his chips the whole time. It was surprising that he didn't choke.

"Hmm…very true. If I say 'yes' to Temari…" Shikamaru didn't think this time. He just waited for Chouji to answer. He _was_ answering all of Shikamaru's thoughts.

"…I really don't know. I don't know Temari too well, and the part that I do know, well, it isn't all that great." Chouji sighed as he grabbed a handful of chips and stuffed it in his mouth. "She might want to go out with you…or she might kill you for liking her that way."

"Troublesome. This is why I don't like being around women." Shikamaru put a hand on his forehead and shook his head.

"Well," Chouji stuffed more chips in his mouth. "There's a very simple answer to solve your problems."

"How do you _feel _about Ino? How do you _feel_ and Temari?" Chouji emphasized 'feel', sounding like a psychologist.

"Chouji…do we really have to do this?" Shikamaru asked, not wanting to answer such troublesome questions.

"_Do_ you want to find the answer to your question or _not_?" Chouji said strongly. "Let's make this easier. We'll start with Ino. What are the good and bad things about her?"

Shikamaru slouched as he sighed. "Okay." Shikamaru had to think for a couple of seconds before he began to speak his feelings. "Ino is kind of pretty, has smooth and long hair, has a lot of friends, is kind and caring sometimes, she's already a close friend, and I know for sure that she likes me."

"Well that's a good start. Now what about what's you dislike about her." Chouji had a notepad out and started writing down Shikamaru's words. Where the notepad came from is yet another Chouji mystery.

"She's bossy, loud, annoying sometimes, whiney, and worries about her weight too much." Shikamaru thought up quickly.

"Okay. So remember what you've just said." Chouji flipped a page from his notepad. "Now, how what do you like and dislike about Temari?"

"Umm…" Shikamaru needed to think again. "…Temari is fairly pretty, has stranger hair than me, doesn't have many friends, is very intelligent, can shut someone up, and can take care of herself."

"And your dislikes?"

"She's loud, bossy, rude sometimes, scary, and is a lot like my mother." Shikamaru knew his answer immediately.

"Good." Chouji wrote a couple more words down, and then ripped two papers out from his notepad. "Now let's see." He looked at both papers. "Well let's look at the things you dislike about both girls. They're kind of similar. You think that both Ino and Temari are bossy and loud, so those aren't important characteristics."

Shikamaru sighed. 'Great, either way I'm going to have a loud and bossy woman with me.'

"So would you rather have someone who is annoying or rude?" Chouji asked.

"What kind of question is that?" Shikamaru didn't know how to answer the question. He wanted to choose neither, but had to choose one.

"Just answer it! Do you want me to bring the 'reinforcements'?" Chouji threatened.

"No. Way." Shikamaru said monotonously. He sighed. "Rude." He said simply.

"Why?" Chouji was wondering.

"If you're rude to someone, it's their fault, so I would not get the blame. If you are annoying, the person around her has to listen to it. I do _not_ want to listen to Ino being annoying." Shikamaru explained easily.

"Oh. Okay, so one point for Temari. Scary or whiney?" Chouji quickly went to the next characteristic.

"Sigh…this is hard. I think scary." Shikamaru answered with slight hesitation.

"Explain please." Chouji said politely.

"Ino would whine a lot of the time, which would be annoying, which would go back to the last question. I do _not_ want Ino to be annoying everywhere. Temari's very scary, a lot of the times, but at least she'll stay quiet…sometimes."

"_Okay_…" Chouji said with an odd face. "…Would you want Ino with her weight obsession or Temari with her mother-likeness?"

"Ino. It's her body, not mine. If Temari ever met my mother…I don't even want to imagine what would happen." Shikamaru explained since he knew Chouji would ask anyways.

"So it's two to one, in favor of Temari. Let's look at the good things you like about the two." Chouji looked at the 'likes' section of the paper. "You think they're pretty much evenly pretty. Okay, here's a tough one. You like that Ino has a lot of friends, but also like that Temari doesn't have many friends. Why?"

"Friends can be good or bad. Since Ino has a lot of friends, she will be able to hang out with them when she's not on a mission. But since Temari barely has any friends, she won't talk about them, whine about them, or drag me along with her to hang out with them. Get it?"

"Yes. Those are two very interesting views you have there." Chouji tapped a pen on his lip. "So who you going to choose _this_ time?" He said quickly, putting the decision all on Shikamaru, not helping him choose.

Shikamaru thought hard before he could answer. "Temari. No friends mean she won't have fangirl friends. There are too many girls in Konoha. I've had enough of fangirls."

"Alright. Now, do you want someone who is sometimes kind and caring or someone who is smart?"

"Smart. I can have an intelligent conversation with her and I wouldn't have to explain as much."

"Fair enough. Another point for Temari." Chouji marked Temari's paper with his pen. "Do you want someone who's already your friend or someone who can 'shut someone up'?" Chouji quoted Shikamaru making bunny-ear quotations with his first two fingers.

"Ino. She knows me more. I wouldn't have to talk about myself or anything. Plus, Temari isn't the only one who can shut someone up. She's just the quickest at it." Shikamaru said quickly.

"Good. Ino who you _know_ likes you or Temari who can take care of herself?" Chouji went straight to the next character trait speedily.

"Ino because it wouldn't be awkward, or _as_ awkward, if I know that she likes me beforehand. Also, Temari's too fierce. I can't be outmatched and saved by her over and over." Shikamaru pointed out.

"Okay. Now…umm…whose hair do you like better?" Chouji asked with slight awkwardness and confusion.

Shikamaru thought for a while, a long while. About three minutes later, after Chouji had finished two more bags of chips, Shikamaru found his answer. "Ino beca-"

Chouji interrupted Shikamaru. "Stop. I don't think I really want to know your reason." Chouji took his pen and marked Ino's paper. "So one point for Ino." Then he looked at both papers. "Uh-oh." Was all Chouji could say.

"What do you mean uh-oh? What's the result?" Shikamaru looked over to Chouji's papers. He sighed heavily and slouched. "How troublesome."

"Yeah, this is pretty troublesome." Chouji agreed.

"So all this was for nothing?" Shikamaru said more as a statement than question.

"No…not really." Chouji tried to cheer Shikamaru up. "This information shows that Ino and Temari are just about equal and that either girl you end up choosing will have the same affect. So basically, it doesn't matter who you choose." Chouji kind of made up, though it could've been true.

"You're saying that we're back to the beginning! Either way, they're both equal. Either way I'm dead!" Shikamaru concluded.

"Heh…I guess if you put it that way…" Chouji had a phony laugh and scratched the back of his head. Then he stopped scratching his head when an idea hit him. "I have an idea!"

"I'm listening." Shikamaru said hopelessly since either way, he was going to die.

"Well, since you can't decide, maybe we could have someone else decide! You know…like a survey!" Then Chouji had another idea and grinned evilly. "We can call in the 'reinforcements'!" Chouji rubbed his hands together wickedly.

"The 'reinforcements'! We don't need them!" Shikamaru almost pleaded to Chouji not to bring in the 'reinforcements'. "At least, not both of them." Shikamaru compromised.

"But we have to bring in both of them! Or else they wouldn't be called the 'reinforcements'! One of them would be called the 'reinforcement'. It just doesn't sound as good." Chouji pointed out.

"Oh, Chouji…" Shikamaru sighed. "If we bring in the 'reinforcements', we'll have to bring in the 'intellects' and that will be much too troublesome."

"Exactly! Hey! If we bring in the 'reinforcements', they'll bring in the 'intellects' _and_ the 'misdemeanors'. Then the 'intellects' will bring in the 'suppressers', who will bring in the 'interceptors'! We can get the whole gang back together!

Shikamaru sighed. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice that."

"Hmm…" Chouji wondered.

"Hmm…?" Shikamaru wanted to know what Chouji was thinking.

"Did you notice that Ino and Temari aren't in any groups?" Chouji asked.

"Yeah, they are. Remember…the 'assassins'." Shikamaru said, depressingly.

"Oh, yeah!" Chouji remembered. "Oh…yeah." Chouji said again, this time his voice had disappointment, realizing Shikamaru's current situation.

"Well…I guess _I'll _call the 'reinforcements'…" Chouji went towards the phone on Shikamaru's desk and starting calling one of the 'reinforcements'.

"Remember to not tell the 'assassins' about this." Shikamaru reminded as Chouji was listening to the ringing tone, waiting for someone to pick up on the other line.

"Yeah, okay." Chouji said. Then he talked to the person on the other line. "Hey! I'm calling up the gang. We have some 'reinforcing' to do…Shikamaru…Shikamaru's office…yeah…exactly! Oh yeah! Don't tell the 'assassins'! Okay! Bye!" Chouji hung up the phone. "One down! Nine more to go!"

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**A/N: **If you think you know who any of the 'reinforcements', 'intellects', 'misdemeanors', 'suppressers', and/or 'interceptors' are, review with your guesses! If you get at least **_one_** right, you can have a 'one-shot' made for you, a chapter in this story or Not a Relaxing Vacation dedicated to you, or anything else you can think of that you want. You might as well try and guess! That's how desperate I am for reviews these days. They keep me alive, so feed me!

**Hint:** I think it would be too hard to randomly guess characters, so here are two hints. There are two people in each group. The character choices are Gaara, Hinata, Kankuro, Kiba, Naruto, Neji, Sakura, Sasuke, Shino, and Tenten.

**A/N:** Yes, I know that Sasuke isn't back! But in this story he is! I couldn't help but have everyone in the story! I don't even like Sasuke! But don't you think it would be fun with him? Just a little? You know it's true!


	4. Chapter 3 Help Wanted

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I don't own Snickers candy bars either! I don't even own my own room!**

**A/N: **Warning! The last part of this chapter was written and finished late Sunday night. I was running on milk and Snickers! So if things seem crazy, weird, or all of the above plus some other random words, it's not my fault! Blame the milk and Snickers bar! I love this chapter!

**Published November 8, 2006**

**Chapter 3 - Help Wanted**

"Thanks for coming, minna (everyone)!" Chouji greeted the gang.

"Why am _I_ here?" Gaara asked with his usual dark tone.

"Yeah! Why _is_ he here? Why am I here?" Kankuro also asked.

"Well, I really don't know. Naruto called you, not me!" Chouji pointed at the blonde in his signature orange jumpsuit.

"Gaara and Kankuro were in Konoha, so I invited them here, dattebayo!" Naruto cheered.

"This is troublesome. There are too many people in here." Shikamaru mumbled.

"You're office is humungous! We could fit at least ten more people in here!" Kiba shouted.

"He's right, Shikamaru. You're office is as big as the Hokage's." Chouji agreed. "But back to our situation! Now sit down everyone…" He shouted loud enough for everyone to hear. "…or stand if you want." realizing that some of the more 'emo' people wouldn't want to sit.

Very quickly, Naruto and Kiba crossed their legs and sat on the floor. Sasuke had his arms crossed with his back against the wall on the right. He had one of his legs pushed up on the wall. Neji was in the same position, except on the opposite wall. Gaara also was in the same position, but he was on the wall closest to the door. Kankuro stood where he was, near Gaara. Shino also stayed where he was, doing nothing. Hinata was also standing, with her hand cuffed in front of her. Sakura and Tenten somehow found chairs and sat in them. Their arms were crossed with their faces looking kind of angry.

"So can anyone guess what this meeting is about?" Chouji asked, sounding like a teacher asking his students a math problem.

Sakura raised her hand in the air and waved it back and forth vigorously. "Ooh, ooh! Pick me!" Sakura insisted, sounding like a 'know-it-all' pupil.

"Umm, okay. Sakura." Chouji said.

"We're here because _someone_ finally found out that _someone_ actually likes him and _has_ liked him for the past _billion_ years." Sakura emphasized her sentence and sounded angry.

"_Correction_!" Tenten also said angrily. "We're here because _someone_ finally found out _two_ _someones_ actually like him and have _always_ liked him!" Tenten was definitely angry. She looked like Sakura's twin.

"_Also_…" Sakura added with more anger. "That _someone_ was _blind_ for so many years and never knew _just_ how much _both_ _someones_ liked him!" Sakura stood up and slammed her hands on Shikamaru's desk.

"Not only _that_!" Tenten added. "But that _someone_ was _so_ blind, he didn't _notice_ that _both_ _someones_ _never_ went out on a date with _another_ someone _because_ they only wanted that _special_ _someone_ to go out with!" Tenten also slammed her hands on Shikamaru's desk.

"Nani (what)?" Naruto scratched his head. He was very confused. 'What is this about someone and someones with someone? I'm confused.' He thought.

Naruto wasn't alone. Everyone in the room, excluding Sakura, Tenten, and Shikamaru, was confused.

"Uh…can you explain that again?" Chouji asked. He was wondering if Tenten and Sakura were even talking about the meeting anymore.

"Well, to make it simple…" Tenten turned to everyone and smiled cheerfully. She sounded and looked very happy and nice. Then her face quickly turned sinister. "Shikamaru _finally_ found out that Ino _and_ Temari have liked and still like him."

There was silence for more than a minute. Then, at once, there were conversations about Shikamaru and Ino and Temari.

Tenten quickly turned her head back to Shikamaru and glared at him. "Do you _know_ how long I've been trying to get Temari on a date?!" She muttered loud enough for only Shikamaru and Sakura to hear.

Sakura copied Tenten and glared at him as well. "Do you know how long _I've_ been trying to get Ino on a date?!" Sakura mumbled.

Then, coincidently, Tenten and Sakura spoke at the same time to Shikamaru. "Do you know how hard it is to keep boys away from her?!" Tenten and Sakura both muttered, but when they said it in unison, they were loud enough for everyone to hear.

Silence took over for another minute.

"What are _you_ looking at?!" Sakura and Tenten yelled in anger at the same time. Then the two irritated kunoichis glared back at Shikamaru.

"You better choose one." Sakura warned Shikamaru.

"Or else." Tenten threatened.

The two kunoichis turned around and started to walk back to their seats.

"How troublesome." Shikamaru said out loud.

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"I still don't get it!" Naruto whined. He _really_ couldn't make sense of anything.

"What don't you get, baka (idiot)?!" Kiba insulted.

"Don't call me a baka (idiot), baka!" Naruto shouted at Kiba.

"But you are a baka (idiot)! You don't even get the simplest of things!" Kiba shouted back at Naruto.

"Would you two shut up?" Gaara said ever-so monotonously as he walked over to Kiba and Naruto.

"Hey, Gaara." Kiba and Naruto greeted nervously in unison.

"Did you and Kankuro know about Temari and Ino?" Kiba asked Gaara.

"Actually…" Gaara started.

"Nope…not a clue." Kankuro answered, walking up to Kiba, Gaara, and Naruto.

"That's what I thought." Kiba stated. "I had no idea that Ino and Temari liked Shikamaru. What's so great about him anyways?"

"I haven't a clue." Kankuro answered.

"He's smart, funny, caring, and hard-to-get." Gaara stated out of nowhere.

Kankuro, Kiba, and Naruto looked at Gaara with surprising looks. 'How did _he_ know that?' They all thought in their heads.

"What?" Gaara said annoyed and would've raised an eyebrow if he had one. 'Why are they staring at me?'

"How did you know that?" Naruto had the courage to ask.

"I heard a bunch of fangirls talking about him on my way here." Gaara explained.

"Oh…" The boys said in unison.

"Hey…why are you two here anyways?" Kiba asked.

"Coincidently, I was sent to see the Hokage about some treaties." Gaara told Kiba.

"And I came along because I didn't want to have to watch over Suna while Gaara was gone." Kankuro added.

"Yeah, too bad though. It would've been nice to get away from you for a while." Gaara rudely said.

"Humph!" Kankuro crossed his arms.

"So where's Temari?" Kiba asked.

"She's somewhere around here. She didn't want to stay in Suna either." Kankuro assumed. Then he whispered to Kiba. "But I think she came here to see Shikamaru."

Kiba nodded. Then he sighed and shrugged. "I can't believe she liked that lazy Shikamaru when she could've had _me_."

"No way! I would _never_ let her go out with _you_!" Kankuro argued.

"And _why_ not?!" Kiba argued back. "I'm a good-looking, smart, funny, and caring Chuunin!" Kiba listed his qualities.

"Oh please! Like she would want to go out with you! You're so easy!" Kankuro pointed out. "She wants someone hard-to-get! Duh!"

"Humph." Kiba crossed his arms.

Kankuro snickered. "I can't believe you actually liked my sister. I mean, seriously, how could _you_ think you had a chance with _her_? Wait till I tell her that you liked her!"

"HEY!" Chouji hollered out to everyone.

There was silence as everyone stared at Chouji.

"This is a meeting that shall remain secret! We _cannot_, I repeat, _cannot_ tell _anyone_ about this meeting! We especially can't tell Ino or Temari! Got it?!" Chouji explained seriously.

Sasuke, Neji, Gaara, and Shino nodded.

"Hai!" Rock Lee, Kiba, Kankuro, and Naruto said.

"Yeah." Sakura and Tenten said lazily.

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"First we need our 'reinforcements' to come up." Chouji ordered.

No one came up.

"Hello! 'Reinforcement'! You're supposed to come up!" Chouji shouted.

"Oh! That's us!" Naruto said hitting Kiba. Naruto and Kiba stood up.

"So, 'reinforcements', I have some questions for you guys." Chouji confirmed.

"What questions?" Kiba asked, making 'questions' sound like some weird, unknown fruit that can taste really bad if you sniff it first. (**A/N:** If you can correctly guess the fruit I'm talking about, kudos to you!)

Chouji magically took out his notepad and a pen. "Who do you think Shikamaru should go out with? You must explain your reasoning as well."

Naruto tapped his finger on his lip. "I pick Temari…because I could see Shikamaru get whipped a lot!" Naruto laughed and pointed at Shikamaru.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"And you, Kiba?" Chouji waited for his answer.

"Ino! I can't let Shikamaru go out with Temari! I like Temari!" Kiba stated out loud, not realizing that all of his friends were still listening until it was too late.

Sasuke and Neji smirked at the same time.

Sakura and Tenten laughed so hard, they sounded like they were going mad.

"You…like…Temari…oh…gosh…funny!" Sakura laughed in-between her words.

Tenten just laughed the whole time.

"Hey! It's not funny!" Kiba crossed his arms.

"Well…okay…" Chouji said. He didn't know what else to say. Then he shook his head. "Okay…next! 'Intellects' get up here…uh…please?" Chouji said nervously once he remembered who the 'intellects' were.

"I don't want to." Neji replied quietly in his 'emo' Neji-tone.

"Me neither." Sasuke agreed in _his_ 'emo' Sasuke-tone.

"Then why did you two come?!" Chouji asked.

"We didn't want to go to work today." Neji decided to answer in his low-tone again.

Sasuke nodded. "Being an ANBU can be annoying sometimes." (**A/N:** Yes, Sasuke is in ANBU! Well, he is now! He _does_ seem like someone who would be in ANBU.)

"Well can you at least give your input on this? Who do _you_think Shikamaru should go out with?" Chouji insisted.

Neji understood that Chouji wouldn't stop asking for his input until he answered, so he stood up straight and walked towards the middle of the office. Without asking, Neji took Tenten's chair and sat in it with his arms crossed.

"Hey!" Tenten yelled back from the floor. "I was sitting on that!"

Neji smirked. "Well, now you're not." Neji said emotionlessly, not looking at Tenten.

"Ugh!" Tenten stood up and crossed her arms. "Neji! Get out of my chair!"

"I won't answer any questions unless I sit in this chair." Neji stated, looking at Chouji.

Chouji sighed. "Tenten, please find another place to sit. We really need Neji's intellectual view on this situation."

Sasuke smirked. "That's sad, Hyuuga."

Neji glared at Sasuke.

"You had to have Chouji keep Tenten away from you..." Sasuke walked over to the middle of the room where Sakura and now Neji were sitting. "…that's truly sad…and might I add, impolite." Sasuke faced Sakura. "Sakura, can I sit in your seat?" Sasuke flicked his hair and smirked at her.

"Humph. Why _should_ I?" Sakura crossed her arms. She wasn't as easy, when it came to Sasuke, anymore.

"Don't you want to go out on a date with me?" Sasuke asked, knowing what Sakura's answer was going to be.

Sakura gasped. "Sure, you can sit here Sasuke!" Sakura stood up from the chair and out of the way for Sasuke to sit down.

"See, Hyuuga? Simple as that." Sasuke smirked at Neji.

Neji smirked. "Not as simple as you think." He looked at Sakura, making Sasuke turn to see Sakura as well.

"So when are we going on our date?" Sakura asked politely. She was very happy that Sasuke would be going on a date with her.

"What date? I never agreed to go out on a date with. I asked if you wanted to go out on a date with me and you gave me your chair." Sasuke said simply. Then he turned to Neji. "See, Hyuuga. Simple. As. That."

Neji smirked again and chuckled slightly. "Think again, Uchiha." He looked at Sakura again.

Sasuke looked at Sakura and saw flames in her eyes. "So I'm like an example to you so you can beat Neji! Uchiha Sasuke! Urgh! You are so dead!" Sakura was enraged as she started beating up Sasuke.

'Damn, she got strong.' Sasuke thought as Sakura punched him in the face.

"Cha! You better not do that again!" Sakura threatened.

Neji couldn't help but smirk again. "So who won this time, Uchiha?"

"Hn." Sasuke said in disgust. 'I can't believe I lost to that Hyuuga.' He thought.

"Um…can we get back to the circumstances with Shikamaru?"

"Yeah, whatever." Sasuke crossed his arms.

"So…choose…Ino or Temari?" Chouji waited for their answers.

"I-" Sasuke started, but was interrupted by Neji.

"Temari. She seems to care about Shikamaru a lot, even though she's very good at hiding it. Shikamaru would be happy with her. They're both smart intellectuals and Shikamaru could havea girlfriend who can play Shogi well. Temari is also very strong, so Shikamaru _would_ be whipped like his father sometimes, yes, but it's best for Shikamaru. He needs to get off his lazy-bottom anyways." Neji explained very well and professionally.

"Hn." Sasuke said angrily. 'He beat me again!' "I pick Ino. The two have known each other for a very long time. They're good friends who I could imagine together. Ino would also whip Shikamaru for the better, but she knows him better. She practically knows as much about Shikamaru as Shikamaru knows about himself." Sasuke explained, trying to be just as, if not more, professional sounding than Neji.

"Thank you. Umm…you can go back to your walls now." Chouji dismissed the two 'intellects'.

Neji and Sasuke walked back to their corresponding walls.

"Now, who do we have next?" Chouji asked himself out loud.

"Let the 'misdemeanors' go up next, dattebayo!" Naruto cheered like he was at a wrestling match.

"Sure. 'Misdemeanors' come up!" Chouji commanded.

"No." Gaara said with anger.

"Uhh…why not?" Chouji asked nervously.

"Calling Kankuro and me misdemeanors is an insult." Gaara clarified.

"Oh. Sorry! I didn't realize that." Chouji apologized. "We'll give you two a different name later! You two can still give your opinion right? I mean your sister _is_ involved in this." Chouji persuaded.

"Yeah, yeah." Kankuro answered with annoyance.

"Ino or Temari." Chouji asked. "Remember, this is what's best for Shikamaru."

"Ino. It's best if Shikamaru wants to live long. Gaara can get pretty angry sometimes, especially if someone hurts his family in any way. Unless Shikamaru can keep Temari happy, well, he's dead!" Kankuro said in a happy-tone. Then he saw everyone else, other than Gaara, staring at him. "What? Can't a guy sound happy when talking about death?" His audience's faces turned even more confused with their eyebrows raised. 'I guess not.' He thought.

"Temari." Gaara said, breaking the silence. Everyone turned from Kankuro to Gaara. They were all so confused at these brother's answers! "What? I can't choose my own sister?" Like puppets, everyone raised an eyebrow as they listened to Gaara's reasoning. "Temari _and _Shikamaru would both be happy if they went out. Temari would, most likely, change for the better if she knew that Shikamaru was there. If you think about it, Temari has always been nicer to Shikamaru. Usually she would kill, or at least injure badly, any man who made her unhappy. She's been around Shikamaru and has only hit him on the head with her fan. _That_ is how Temari shows her love. Shikamaru likes to watch clouds, right? Well, you may or many not know this, but Temari likes to watch the stars. It's an annoying habit she's had since she was a child. Now that she's been around Shikamaru, she's also been watching the clouds as much as the stars. We don't have clouds in Suna, so she likes being around Shikamaru in Konoha and watching the clouds. Shikamaru doesn't seem to mind, so that must mean that Shikamaru likes Temari somewhat. Usually he thinks everyone is troublesome when he can't watch the clouds in peace and let's face it, Temari isn't very peaceful. Watching the sky is one of her favorite things to do. Or at least, that's what it says in her diary." Gaara finished speaking.

There was silence for a very long time. Everyone was either in awe or shock. Someone had to break the silence!

"Why is everyone so quiet?" Gaara asked. He didn't think what he said was that surprising or anything.

Kiba shook his head. "You read her diary?" Kiba asked Gaara.

Everyone else, other than Gaara, had a 'you're-kidding-right?' look on their face. They thought Kiba would be asking a more on-topic question. He was going off-topic.

"Yes…I have to do take advantage of the free-time without nonstop screaming, somehow, while Temari's in Konoha being a liaison." Gaara justified.

"Yeah, I'd do that too." Kiba grinned. "So did she write anything about me in there?" He tried to elbow Gaara, but Gaara's sand got in the way.

"Yeah…she said that you were an annoying little kid. You should take a bath more. She said you smelled like dog and sweat." Gaara said bluntly, not realizing that this could've hurt Kiba's feelings somehow.

Kiba hung his head low. He sighed. "I guess she doesn't like me."

"Aren't you and Shikamaru friends?" Gaara asked.

"Yeah, why?" Kiba asked back.

"If Shikamaru and Temari go out, she has to hang out with you at one point or another, since you _are_ one of Shikamaru's friends, right?" Gaara thought.

"Hey, you're right! Thanks, Gaara!" Kiba grinned.

"Hn." Gaara said.

"Can I change my vote?!" Kiba asked out loud to Chouji.

"No!" Everyone other than Gaara and Shikamaru shouted.

Kiba pouted and crossed his arms like a child. "I just wanted to make a good decision. Didn't have to _all_ say 'no' at the same time." Kiba mumbled.

"Can we continue with this? I'd like my opinion to be heard!" Sakura politely asked Chouji.

"Yeah. I guess the 'interceptors' can come up next." Chouji sighed. This was getting way out of hand.

"Cha!" Sakura cheered as she stood up along with Tenten.

(**A/N:** Here's the start of my milk and Snickers rampage.)

"You know the drill. Ino or Temari?" Chouji was getting tired of all of these off-topic conversations, competitive arguments, and unreliable responses.

"Well _someone's_ a little temperamental today!" Sakura rudely said to Chouji.

"Just speak already before he squishes you." Shikamaru tried to keep Chouji calm.

"He's right. Talk before he or _I_ squish you." Gaara added.

"Heh…okay!" Sakura said nervously, scratching the back of her head.

"Ino." Tenten said before Sakura could say her answer. "Temari's a really good friend and all, but think about it. It was said before but it's important. Ino is already really good friends with Shikamaru! They're already good friends, so why not go farther. There's not _too_ much of a difference between a good friend and a boyfriend anyways." Tenten was about to continue with other reasons, but Sakura interrupted her.

"What?! There is a huge difference between a good friend and a boyfriend! But I see how you wouldn't know since you've never had a boyfriend before." Sakura shrugged. She knew she was getting Tenten heated.

"What?! I have had a boyfriend before!" Tenten shouted at Sakura.

"One…but that only lasted, what two seconds, once he realized who he was committing to. Plus, you barely liked him. You still have a major crush on the Hyuuga over there." Sakura pointed at Neji.

Everyone stared at the pointed Hyuuga.

Neji looked disgusted, hiding a blush very well, but since his skin was so pale, a small pink came on his cheeks. "Hn." Neji said, trying to act as disgusted as possible.

"Oh, you've gone too far, Sakura!" Tenten was livid. "That was a long time ago! I haven't liked him in years! Tell them, Kankur-" Tenten gasped and covered her mouth.

Silence took over once again.

"D-Did you just say, Kankuro?" Sakura asked wickedly.

"N-No! I didn't!" Tenten blushed red.

'Damn girl can't keep her mouth shut.' Kankuro thought in his head.

"Kankuro?" Sakura stared at Kankuro.

Everyone, even Tenten, stared at Kankuro.

"What? Can't an 18 year-old have a fling?" Kankuro shrugged.

"WHAT?!" Tenten screamed out so loud that there was a slight earthquake. "You call our three-year relationship a fling?!" Tenten had flames in her eyes and had her hand in a fist. "Oh, that's it! You're dead!" Tenten ran towards Kankuro.

Kankuro would've done something, but how was he supposed to hurt his girlfriend of three whole years?

As Tenten beat up Kankuro, everyone started murmuring and whispering to each other.

"Did you know that they were together?" Kiba whispered.

"No. I had no idea." Naruto said truthfully.

"I wasn't talking to you! Of course you had no idea! You don't get anything! I was asking Gaara." Kiba insulted.

"I knew already. Did you know that Kankuro kept a diary too?" Gaara informed.

Kiba and Naruto couldn't help but laugh loudly. "He keeps a diary! Oh my gosh! That's hilarious."

"He calls it his personal journal, but a diary _is_ a personal journal right?" Gaara asked. He didn't understand why Kiba and Naruto were laughing so much.

"Yeah...oh, that's just so funny!" Kiba tried hard to stop laughing.

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Shikamaru felt bad for Chouji because he had to go through all this trouble just to get some information. Shikamaru, being a good friend he is, shut everyone up so Chouji could resume his duties.

"Thanks, Shikamaru." Chouji thanked.

"Don't mention it. I wanted to shut everyone up anyways." Shikamaru said boringly.

"Back to our topic. Tenten, would you like to continue?" Chouji asked politely.

"Yeah! _Like_ I was saying before miss _loudmouth_ interrupted, Ino is already Shikamaru's friend. They won't have to go through the 'trouble' of talking about themselves or learning about each other." Tenten used her fingers to make bunny-ears on 'trouble'. Also, Ino lives in Konoha while Temari lives in Suna. The difference would be too much to handle and a long distance relationship wouldn't last, especially with a lazy-ass like him." Tenten pointed to Shikamaru.

"Hn." Shikamaru glared slightly.

Tenten continued. "Furthermore, Temari is three whole years older than Shikamaru! That has to count for something. Three years is a big difference, especially when the ages are 16 and 19. Temari's already an adult when Shikamaru's still a teenager." Tenten finished. "Thank you for listening _without_ interrupting." She glared at Sakura.

"Sakura, your turn." Chouji said.

"Humph. Thank you, Chouji." Sakura glared back at Tenten. "I choose Temari. I must say, Tenten does have some points, but I have some counterarguments. You say that Temari is three years older than Shikamaru, well you know what I say? Who cares?! How many parents have _you_ seen who are the same age? Three years isn't a big difference. Anyways, Shikamaru's smart! He'll catch up with Temari with his big brain." Sakura raised her voice to Tenten.

"Thank you?" Shikamaru said, not sure if it was a compliment or insult or maybe both.

"Wait a minute? Parents? Okay, this is just going out. How many couples have you seen that aren't the same age?" Tenten asked.

"For example…" Sakura started with an 'I-beat-you' smirk. "…You and Kankuro."

Tenten blushed as red as a sunburn on Shino's eyes. "Ugh!" Tenten couldn't think of anything else to counter.

"I think I rest my case on that. Now, Shikamaru and Temari may live in different villages, but they could work it out! True love can conquer all! If they are truly in love, the distance wouldn't matter! Plus, Gaara could work it out so Temari could visit Konoha more." Sakura grinned at Gaara. "Now about Ino's friendship with Shikamaru…Temari is good friends with Shikamaru too! They're both intelligent individuals who have common interests! They try to show that they hate each other, but really, they don't mind each other at all. I say their very good friends who enjoy each other's company. Humph." Sakura's humph sounded triumphant.

"Thank you for your opinions. Now if we look at everyone's…" Chouji said but was interrupted.

"Wait!" Tenten said. "What about Shino and Hinata?"

"Oh yeah! Okay, 'suppressors', you can come up and speak." Chouji said.

"O-Okay. Hinata gently walked up to the middle of the room. Shino followed.

"You know what I'm going to ask." Chouji was getting lazy and didn't feel like asking the same question over and over.

"Umm…well…uh…" Hinata tried to think of what to say.

"Our decision really doesn't matter. We don't have a preference for anyone or enough information on Ino or Temari to make a wise decision for the future of Shikamaru's love-life. It wouldn't be right if we were to decide who Shikamaru should go out with. This is an important decision that only Shikamaru can make, and only on his own. Anything that has been said already doesn't matter. Yes, some of the things said today could help on Shikamaru's decision, but you should not ask us to make the decision for him. He must choose for himself." Shino said.

Everyone and I mean everyone, who includes Gaara, was in shock of Shino's long speech. Shino had never spoken for such a long time about something so…awkward.

"Wow. Um…Shikamaru…do you think his hypothesis right?" Chouji asked, not sure if Shino's thoughts on love should be believed.

"Sadly, yes." Shikamaru sighed. "That means this whole thing was pointless. Just a waste of troublesome time." He yawned and stretched. "Well, good to see you all! See ya!" Shikamaru flicked his hand, gesturing everyone to shoo out of the office.

"Well, okay." Chouji was still confused. "I guess everyone can leave and go back to what they were doing."

**-------------------------------------------------**

**A/N: **But it's not over yet! There's a part 2 to this! I just thought I should stop here because it was getting kind of long and I didn't want your eyes to go blind just yet. I just had to add Tenten and Kankuro! Blame the Snickers and milk!


	5. Chapter 4 Help Wanted Pt 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**A/N:** I'm sorry Rock Lee wasn't in any group! It would be very complicated and uneven if he was there! Sorry Lee fans! I love Lee too! WARNING!: This chapter is almost a whole filler. It's the aftermath of what happened when everyone left Shikamaru's office. It should still be an okay chapter to read. **P.S.** Thank you for all the reviews on FicWad!

**Published November 8, 2006**

**Chapter 4 - Help Wanted Pt. 2**

"That was a big _waste_ of time!" Kankuro yawned as he walked out of Shikamaru's office. "That was pointless! Nothing happened!"

"What do you _mean_ nothing happened?" Gaara asked. "Don't you recall Tenten beating you to a pulp not five minutes ago?" Gaara glared at Kankuro. "Now Sakura and Tenten are trying to beat each other up…you're lucky they aren't thinking…"

"Why?" Kankuro raised an eyebrow.

"If they were thinking, they would realize that they should kill you…" Gaara said 'as-a-matter-of-factly' and crossed his arms.

Kankuro chuckled nervously and scratched his scalp. "Well, then, maybe we should leave before they start thinking clearly."

"Finally…" Gaara said as the two brothers left the building.

"Wait a minute!" Kankuro stopped in the middle of the road.

"What now?" Gaara asked impatiently.

"If Shikamaru picks Temari and they start going out, and then they get married, Shikamaru will be our brother-in-law!" Kankuro just realized.

"Duh." Gaara said emotionlessly.

"That's not right!" Kankuro whined.

"Yes, it is." Gaara said, not noticing Kankuro's idiom.

Kankuro sighed. "I didn't mean it literally." Kankuro put his hand on his forehead and shook his head.

"What other meaning is there?" Gaara asked his older brother.

Kankuro sighed again. "Nevermind. Too bad we can't tell Temari about this."

-------------------------------------------------

"Get back here, Sakura! Oh, you're so mine!" Tenten screamed as she ran towards Sakura who was running away.

Sakura wasn't running away because she was afraid, she just wanted to find a good spot to beat up Tenten. When she found an open place to battle, she went into a stance, kind of like Neji's. Then she bent her hand back in a 'come-and-get-me' kind of way. She was ready for Tenten, thinking she could beat her easily.

"Oh, it's on!" Tenten took out a scroll. "Soshoryu (Twin Rising Dragons)!" Many kunai started to aim towards Sakura.

Sakura speedily jumped out of the way. "Sakura Fubuki no Jutsu (Sakura Blizzard Technique)" Sakura said quickly as kunais and explosives started to fling out of nowhere.

Tenten blocked the flying explosives with her own kunais.

The battle went onward with only weapons.

"_What_ do you two think you're doing?" Shino said in a low disappointed tone. He was walking by with Hinata.

Sakura and Tenten stopped their fight.

"What does it look like?!" Tenten shouted at Shino.

"We're having a battle!" Sakura added, also shouting.

"How childish." Shino remarked.

"What would you know?!" Sakura yelled.

Kiba shrugged. "You shouldn't have said that Sakura!" Kiba warned, moving his index finger and head back and forth.

"First of all…" Shino started.

"S-S-Shino, I d-don't think y-you should..." Hinata tried to stop Shino, but she was too late.

"…do you two realize how old you are? You are fighting over a small argument about a dumb subject. Tenten," Shino looked at Tenten. "You overreacted and beat up Kankuro for a stupid reason. If you were _thinking_, you would have realized that Kankuro was only calling you a 'fling' because he was smart enough to hide the fact that you had been going out with him for so long. You were blind with anger at Sakura for revealing your crush with Neji. That was very juvenile."

Sakura couldn't help but giggle a little.

"What are _you_ laughing at?" Shino turned to Sakura. "You were just as juvenile as Tenten. Tenten never wanted you to reveal her secret, though obvious, crush on Neji. If you were more mature, you would have kept yourself from exposing her secret with your big mouth." Shino looked at both girls. "_Now_, look at the both of you." Shino said with shame and disappointment. "You two are battling because of what exactly? A stupid love secret revealed? It's an immature reason to get into a quarrel. Both of you, come on, you're already 16 and 17. You shouldn't be fighting a juvenile battle like this." Shino shook his head in letdown. "The meeting was supposed to be about Shikamaru and _his_ love life. Maybe you two should stay on-topic and talk about _that _instead of your current topic."

Sakura and Tenten could only nod.

Shino turned around, and walked away, with Hinata and Kiba following behind him.

Once Shino, Hinata, and Kiba were out of sight, Sakura and Tenten decided Shino was right about everything he said. They _were_ acting very childish.

"Hey," Sakura got Tenten's attention. "Did you realize that if Shikamaru goes out with Ino and they _don't_ work out, it's going to be very 'troublesome' to hang out with the both of them?" Sakura quoted Shikamaru's favorite used word.

"I was thinking the exact same thing with Temari." Tenten sighed.

"Troublesome." Sakura and Tenten sighed in unison.

"Too bad…" Sakura started.

"We can't tell either of them about this." Tenten finished.

-------------------------------------------------

"Don't you think you were a little harsh on them?" Kiba asked Shino as they walked to their usual training grounds with Hinata.

"Not at all." Shino said emotionlessly.

Hinata, without hesitation, stopped in the middle of the street. "D-Did you two r-realize t-that i-if S-Shikam-maru p-picks someone, s-she'll h-have to m-meet his m-m-m-mother."

Shino and Kiba stopped as well. 'Oh my goodness, she's right. Poor girl.' Both boys thought.

Kiba sighed. "Oh well! At least once one of them meets his mother I can comfort her in her 'time of need'!" Kiba grinned cheerfully.

"_You_ just keep telling yourself that." Shino said lowly. Then he continued to walk to the training grounds.

"T-Too bad w-we c-can't t-tell them in adv-vance." Hinata sighed, feeling bad for both of her friends.

-------------------------------------------------

"Temari and Shikamaru _would _make a good couple." Sasuke stated as Neji and himself walked slowly back to ANBU.

"_Really_?" Neji raised an eyebrow in disbelief. 'Uchiha is agreeing with me? It must be a trick.'

"Ino and Shikamaru would _also_ make a good couple." Neji insisted.

"Are you just saying that because I agreed with you?" Sasuke turned to Neji and raised an eyebrow.

Neji shrugged. "Hey, can't two geniuses make the same observation?" Neji raised his eyebrow back at Sasuke.

Sasuke shrugged as well. "_Sure_…" Sasuke said sarcastically.

"I guess it's kind of hard to make up an excuse when you've just realized that one of your number one fans, Ino, never really liked you." Neji smirked.

Sasuke glared angrily at Neji. "I've known _that_."

"Well that's even worse." Neji shook his head and shrugged.

Sasuke glared angrily again. "What do you mean by _that_?"

"If you knew that Ino wasn't your fan, you must be feeling depressed that she picked Shikamaru over you. It's common jealousy." Neji crossed his arms. He made 'tisk' sounds with his mouth and shook his head. "I expected better from _you_, Uchiha."

Sasuke smirked. "I see…you're still pissed off because you _just_ found out that Tenten didn't love you anymore. Worse than _that_, she picked Kankuro over you." Sasuke finally beat Neji at his own game.

"Touché, Uchiha." Neji smirked.

"Back at 'cha, Hyuuga." Sasuke continued to smirk.

_Five minutes of walking passed._

"You're thinking about Shikamaru going out with Temari?" Sasuke asked, more as a statement.

"_You're_ thinking about Shikamaru going out with Ino?" Neji asked back.

"You always _did_ like more mature women. That's why you didn't go out with Tenten…she was too 'immature' for you, correct?" Sasuke gave a challenging look at Neji.

"You liked Ino, _didn't_ you? I mean, you _did _almost ask her on a date, until _Shikamaru_ came along." Neji challenged back at Sasuke.

"You know what I've realized?" Sasuke smirked.

"We both have issues with kunoichis?" Neji smirked as well.

Sasuke nodded.

Both advanced bloodline geniuses sighed. "They'll never know of our troubles."

-------------------------------------------------

Naruto walked back home. He was free for the day, surprisingly. He couldn't train with Kakashi and didn't have any missions, so he didn't have a lot to do.

'I wonder what Shikamaru's going to do?' Naruto thought as he ate some cup ramen. He slurped some noodles into his mouth. 'What is he supposed to decide?' Naruto already forgot what the meeting was about. 'Oh well, I didn't get it anyways.'

-------------------------------------------------

**A/N: **Yes, this was a very 'filler-like' chapter! I'm sorry I couldn't fit in Naruto in more! It's very in-character though! I really don't think he would get this kind of thing. He may be 16 years-old, but he can be very dull sometimes, to say the least.


	6. Chapter 5 All in the Past

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I wonder if Seishi Kishimoto has ever pretended to be Masashi. Then he could say that _he_ owned Naruto. That'd be awesome.**

**A/N: **Sorry for what seemed like a long wait. I don't really like this chapter much because it's basically what happened before Shikamaru's birthday. I didn't have much inspiration, so sorry if it sucks! Happy Veteran's Day weekend!

**Published November 11, 2006**

**Chapter 5 - All in the Past**

_One-and-a-half years ago…_

One blonde kunoichi was in Konoha Park all alone. She had her elbows on her thighs, and head in her hands, sitting on a bench. She was looking down at the ground, sighing.

"What should I get…? Hmm…" Ino tapped her finger on her chin. "I could always…" She raised her finger in the air. "I got it! I'll…no, that's stupid. Maybe I should…no, that's even dumber." The kunoichi sighed. "Thinking of a present for Shika-kun is hard…hmm…what did I do last year?" Ino recalled Shikamaru's 14th birthday. "Oh yeah! I gave him a birthday party! Awww man! I can't do that again!" The frustrated girl thought longer. 'Maybe it's time that I…no…bad idea, Ino…he's too immature and wouldn't understand.' '_What do you mean he wouldn't understand?! He's a genius!_' 'I guess you're right…but how am I going to tell him?' '_That_…I have no idea.'

"Ohayo, Ino!" A 'big-boned' friend said, waving at Ino.

"Hmm?" Ino shook her head to stop talking to herself. "Oh. Ohayo, Chouji!"

"What are you doing?" Chouji asked politely.

"Thinking of a good present to give to Shikamaru…" Ino shrugged.

"Well, you still have time left. You'll think of something by then." Chouji tried to cheer her friend up.

"Actually, I don't. The Hokage put me on a mission last minute even though I _scheduled_ to have the day _off_!" Ino started raising her voice to no one.

"Okay…" Chouji raised his eyebrow. "Well, I'll help you think then." Chouji sat down next to Ino on the wooden bench.

In an instant, Chouji thought of an idea. "I have an idea!" Chouji turned to Ino. "You know how the students at the Academy get school pictures now, right?"

Ino nodded. 'I wish _I_ had school pictures when _I_ was at the Academy.'

"Well, why don't you give Shikamaru a picture of you?" Chouji suggested.

"You really think he'd like that?" Ino raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah! He's a simple guy. He doesn't expect anything. And on the back of your photo, you can write a note or something to him, like the students do." Chouji proposed.

"That's not a bad idea!" Ino smiled at Chouji. 'Perfect place to put it…' Ino thought to herself.

"Great!" Chouji stood up.

"Wait!" Ino stood up as well. "There's nowhere in Konoha where they take studio pictures!" Ino realized.

"Just leave all that to me!" Chouji pointed at himself with his thumb. "Just come to my house exactly one week from today at…2 o'clock."

"Umm…okay." Ino shrugged. "Thanks, Chouji." The now happy teammate hugged Chouji. Once she let go of the hug, Ino started skipping away. "See you next week, Chouji!"

-------------------------------------------------

"Hmmm…."

"Hm?"

"Nothing, baka (idiot)." Temari retorted at Kankuro.

"_Someone's_ PMS-ing." Kankuro mocked.

"Shut up." Temari snorted.

"I think _I know_ why you're so grumpy…you know, more than usual." Kankuro declared.

"Yeah, right." Temari said being sarcastic. 'He's too dull to know.

"You gonna miss your little Konoha?" Kankuro grinned widely. "Especially that one Konoha boy, right?" Kankuro raised his eyebrows, insinuating something. In reality, he didn't know _who_ exactly Temari liked, but he could tell she found someone because she had changed.

Temari couldn't help but blush the slightest shade of pink. She brought her mind back on Kankuro. She snorted again. "Tch. Like _I_ would actually like one of those immature Konoha guys. They're only a couple years younger than me, yet they act like a bunch of childish brats." Temari continued to go on about Konoha, boys, and Konoha boys.

"Okay, okay. I get it." Kankuro wanted Temari to stop. She kept on babbling on about Konoha. It was getting annoying. 'She must be hiding something.' He concluded due to Temari's nonstop talking. "I'm going to go out for a while."

"You gonna say goodbye to your little Konoha sweetheart?" Temari smirked at Kankuro. 'Got him back, easy.'

"Ha, ha. Very funny." Kankuro said sarcastically. "I'm going to get more weapons."

"_Sure_ you are…" Temari mocked rolling her eyes.

Kankuro stomped and slammed the hotel door.

"And he says I'm grumpy! He's the one slamming doors." Temari mumbled. She sighed. 'Now back to _him_…what am I going to do?' Temari thought to herself as she looked out the window. "Hmm…" Temari looked down to see many stores and residents walking about. Her eye caught a familiar friend of a friend. 'Maybe he'll know what to do.' The smart kunoichi used her big fan to quietly float down to the ground. 'I hope I didn't make to big of an impression.' She thought to herself sarcastically.

"Temari?" Chouji asked, already knowing it was Temari.

"Hey…uh…you…" The blonde was smart but couldn't remember her friend's friend's name.

"Chouji." Chouji helped Temari out.

"Heh," Temari scratched the back of her head, trying to act normal. "Yeah, Chouji. So what are you doing here?"

"Umm…just walking around the neighborhood. And you?" Chouji asked back.

Temari shrugged as she crossed her arms. "Same." She was trying to act nice.

"Are you going to Shikamaru's birthday party?" Chouji asked randomly.

"No, I have to go back to Suna. There's some crisis or something that only my _brothers_ and _I _can fix. _Strange_ but true." Temari said like it was no big deal. She knew there was nothing to worry about. "I didn't get a present for the crybaby anyways."

"Did you _want_ to give a present to Shikamaru?" Chouji asked curiously.

Temari shrugged. "No, not really. I was trying to think of a gift for the lazy-ass but since I'm going back to Suna, I don't have to anymore." Temari spoke the truth.

"Oh." Chouji tried to sound disappointed. He sighed loudly.

"Why?" Temari couldn't help but ask.

Chouji shrugged. "I was just thinking of a good gift you could give to Shikamaru. But you know, since you don't want to give him a present…" Chouji waited for Temari to take the bait.

Temari took the bait. She opened one eye. "What exactly were you thinking of?"

"Well, you know how the kids at the Academy get school pictures?" Chouji asked.

"Are you saying you want me to give Shikamaru a picture of me?" Temari raised an eyebrow.

"Yup. I think Shikamaru would like it. You _are_ one of his friends. Also, you can write a little note or something on the back of your photo. It's a 'cute' gift." Chouji attempted to persuade the sand kunoichi.

"I guess that wouldn't be too bad of an idea. But I have never seen a photo shop here in Konoha and there's only _one_ that I know of and it's all the way in Suna."

"Don't worry about that. When are you leaving?" Chouji asked.

"In five days. It's amazing how long we have to stay here before having to go back to Suna for an 'emergency'." Temari pointed out.

"Great! Come to my house four days from now, around 3 o'clock. Here's the address." Chouji handed, what looked like a business card, to Temari. It was a plain white card with Chouji's address, home phone number, age, and ninja rank on it.

"Umm…okay." Temari looked at the card.

"Okay! Well I'd better be going. Bye, Temari!" Chouji waved as he walked past Temari.

"Bye." Temari said plainly.

-------------------------------------------------

_Seven days later for Ino…Four days later for Temari…at Chouji's house._

Ino knocked on the Akimichi's door. There was no answer. She knocked again. There was still no answer. One more knock. "Chouji!" Ino shouted with impatience. She leaned on one side and tapped her foot. Her arms were crossed. She looked ticked off.

After 20 seconds of Ino's tapping foot, the door opened. "Hey, Ino!" Chouji smiled happily.

"Don't 'Hey, Ino' me! Do you know how _long_ I've been waiting for you to open the _door_?!" Ino raised her voice slightly.

"Sorry…what's up with you? You seem kind of frustrated." Chouji looked concerned.

"I'm just in a bad mood." Ino replied as she stepped into Chouji's house. Her mood changed quickly from temperamental to shock and awe. "_This_ is your house?" Ino spun around in a circle to see every corner of the room.

Chouji lived in his own house. His parents decided it was time for Chouji to live on his own and start a life, though nothing has happened yet.

"It's not that great." Chouji scratched the back of his head.

"Are you _crazy_? This house is as big as _mine_…and I still live with my parents!" Ino couldn't believe the size of the inside of his house. From the outside, it looked like his old house, but on the inside, it was much more extravagant.

"So, should we get going?" Chouji interrupted Ino's fascination of observing the house.

"Huh?" Ino shook her head. "Going where?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Follow me." Chouji gestured his arm to follow.

Ino followed Chouji through a hallway lit with authentic gold chandeliers. She couldn't help but 'ooh' and 'aah' at everything around her.

"Here we are." Chouji opened a wooden burgundy door on the left side of the hallway.

Ino stepped inside before Chouji. The room was pitch-black.

Chouji closed the door and quickly turned on the light. One by one, fluorescent lights started to power on in a row. The room seemed to go on forever.

"This is the studio room." Chouji finally spoke.

"Wow. I didn't know you were so into photography." Ino was in wonder of everything in the room.

Chouji shrugged. "It's a hobby."

"What do we do now?" Ino asked, seeing many different cameras, props, backgrounds, lights, and other photography objects you would see in a photo studio.

"Well you can search through the backgrounds for one that you like. Then I'll choose the lighting and camera and all that other stuff. 'Kay?" Chouji said while looking for a good camera to use.

"Okay." Ino looked around at many different background colors, textures, and designs. "I pick this one." Ino picked up a plain lilac-white cloud background.

Chouji looked up to see the chosen background. "Okay. I got the camera." Chouji took his camera and stuck it onto a camera stand. Then he walked towards Ino and read a number on the back of the background. "82193." '82193, 82193, 82193.' Chouji memorized in his head as he walked towards a screen. He input '82193' into the screen and the lilac-white colors popped out in an instant.

"Now what?"

"Sit, stand, do whatever. It's your gift. You can basically do whatever you want." Chouji informed Ino.

"Okay…hmm…" Ino put a hand on her hip and tapped her chin. "Ah-hah! Okay…ready!" Ino sat down on the floor with her legs bent to her side, leaning on her hand.

Chouji took many snapshots of Ino. There was really no point in taking so many pictures of Ino, but Chouji wanted to make sure he had a picture of Ino because, really, no one has or had a portrait of Ino. Anyways, he had a whole hour before Temari would come over.

"Is that all?" Ino asked.

"Yup. That's it."

"Uhh…okay." Ino stood up. "So what? I just wait for the picture to print out?"

"Yeah. It shouldn't be that long." Chouji indicated as he input the camera onto the printer. "I have a really quick photo printer."

Suddenly, there was a 'ping' sound from one of Chouji's printers.

Chouji pointed a finger up the air. "Done!" He took out Ino's photo and showed her. "Here you go. That good?"

Ino looked at her picture. "Yeah, that's great! Thanks!"

"Here's a pen." Chouji took a pen from his pocket. "Give it to me when you're done. I'm going to put my camera away." Chouji informed.

"Mm-hm." Ino nodded. 'I have to make this good. I can't be too forward…ah! I've got it.' Ino started writing vigorously, still being neat of course, everything she was currently thinking. 'Now to end it…' The blonde closed the cap on Chouji's pen and took out a special pen she kept in her pocket just for a day like today. 'I have to make this obvious, yet not obvious as the same time.' She sighed. 'Done!' The kunoichi raised her head up.

"Done?" Chouji asked. He had been watching every moment of Ino's change of actions from vigorous to quiet and soft.

"Yup!" Ino smiled. She handed Chouji her picture. "Make sure Shika-kun gets this _on_ his birthday, no earlier, no later."

Chouji nodded.

"Well, I guess I'll be going then! Bye, Chouji!" Ino waved as she walked towards the door.

"See ya!" Chouji waved goodbye.

Ino was about to leave, but stopped as her hand was on the doorknob. "Chouji…?" Ino said, not turning to look at Chouji.

"Uh-huh?" Chouji said looking at Ino's back.

"If you even think about looking at that card…you're dead!" With those last words, Ino turned the doorknob and quietly shut the door.

Chouji sighed loudly. "Scary…" He said out loud to himself. "Well, Temari should be here _any _minute."

On queue, Temari knocked on the other door in the studio leading to the backyard.

Chouji walked to the back door. 'I guess Ino didn't see _this_ door.' He thought as he slowly turned the gold knob open. "Hello, Temari-senpai."

"Temari-senpai?" Temari raised an eyebrow and put a hand on her hip. "Temari." She stepped in.

Chouji closed the door gently and turned around to Temari.

"Your card said to go through the backyard." Temari pointed at the white card Chouji had given her four days ago.

"Yeah. That's correct." Chouji pointed out.

"_Okay_…" Temari said awkwardly. She looked around the current room. 'Wow, big place he's got here.' "You into photography?"

Chouji shrugged. "A little bit. It's a hobby."

"Cool." Temari nodded, showing her comprehension.

"_So_…" Chouji said long, trying to get into a conversation. "…shall we start?"

"Yeah, yeah." Temari said. "Can I choose my background?" Temari pointed to a handful of background samples on the wall.

"Yeah." Chouji nodded. "I'll just get my camera."

"Okay." Temari crossed her arms as she walked towards the samples. "Got one. '82193'." Temari said, looking on the back of her background.

"Huh?" Chouji raised an eyebrow.

"I _said_ 8-2-1-9-3." Temari said slowly so Chouji could understand better.

"I heard _that_, but where did that number come from?"

"I'm not stupid. I've done this before. Like I said before, there's one in Suna." Temari rolled her eyes. 'Konoha boys…so…ugh.' Temari thought. She couldn't think of _one_ good word to describe all of them together.

"_Sorry_, Temari-senpai." Chouji mumbled sarcastically.

"Hey! I heard that! I don't like being called senpai; makes me feel old." Temari pouted slightly.

"Yeah, yeah. Just kidding." Chouji chuckled a little. "If you know what to do, put the number into the screen."

"Yeah, yeah." Temari flicked her hand in a 'whatever' movement. She kneeled and input the number '82193' into the screen. In an instant, the same background Ino used appeared.

Chouji chuckled again a little. 'Shikamaru's got two girls who think so alike.'

"What's so funny?" Temari glared at Chouji.

Anime sweat dropped from Chouji's head. "Oh, nothing!" Chouji waved his hand anxiously in front of himself.

"Hn. Whatever. Let's just get on with this already." Temari coldly said.

"Okay. Since you've done this _before_, just do whatever pose you want and I'll take your picture." Chouji set his camera onto his stand.

Like déjà vu, Temari leaned on one arm and had her legs bent on one side. She posed the same way as Ino, except in the opposite direction.

'Do they share a brain or something?! Freaky!' Chouji thought, but shook it off. 'Mere coincidence, I guess.' "Ready?"

"Yeah, yeah." Temari replied.

"3…2…1…" Chouji counted down and snapped a photo of Temari. 'This would be perfect to take pictures of Temari too!' Chouji thought. He quickly decided to take more pictures of Temari. The flashes of the camera made Chouji look like a swarm of paparazzi. Quickly after snapping shots of Temari for five seconds, he realized that Temari would kill him if she redistributed the photos, and stopped. "Okay!" Chouji said, slightly nervous. "That's it!" He walked towards the photo printer and inserted his camera.

Temari stood up and crossed her arms. "So how long's it gonna take?" Temari asked impatiently.

Another 'ping' sound was heard from one of Chouji's printers.

"It's done." Chouji took out the printed photo and gave it to Temari.

Temari grabbed the photograph from Chouji's hand.

"Here's a-" Chouji was interrupted with Temari's hand in his face.

"I got my own pen." Temari said with her eyes closed. She wrote down all of her words…everything she wanted to write and know about. "Here." She said quickly, arming her photo to Chouji.

Chouji took the photograph and crossed the room to put it next to Ino's, on a table, next to the printers.

Temari looked at Chouji…Chouji looked at Temari…

"_So_…" Temari also said long. "…I saw that Yamanaka girl skipping out of your house…May I ask what she was doing here?" Temari oddly asked politely.

"Long story."

"_I_ have time. _You_ have time. Might as well tell your story." Temari convinced Chouji.

"Okay. Well, Ino wanted to give a present to Shikamaru, as well. But she had to go on a mission last minute and couldn't think of a gift quick enough so I gave her the same idea I gave you."

"Uh-_huh_…" Temari nodded. "That's it?"

"Uh…yeah?" Chouji lifted an eyebrow. "Why?"

Temari rolled her eyes. "You _did_ say it was a long story. I was expecting something more than that, that's all."

Chouji nodded slightly in understanding.

"So, Yamanaka still got a crush on the genius?" Temari asked.

"Uhh…I don't think I should answer that question, since you know, it's _Ino's_ business, _not_ mine." Chouji pointed out.

"Well, it kind of _is_ your business." Temari shrugged. "If that girl tries hard enough, that crybaby might cave in. Then they'll start going out and, well, you'll be _all_ alone. _I'd_ try and stop her if _I_ were you." Temari said wisely.

"Still, I shouldn't say anything Ino would kill me for, you know?" Chouji joked slightly.

"Yeah, yeah. I guess so." Temari said unenthusiastically. She looked kind of down.

'Does she really _care_ about him or is it just me?' Chouji decided there was something he could do. "Well, there is something I can _show_ you…but you _can't_ tell _anyone_, _anyone_ at all, got it?" Chouji said seriously.

"Of course. I'm a bitch a lot, yeah, but I can keep secrets." Temari insulted and complimented herself at the same time.

Chouji picked up Ino's photograph and Temari's photograph. He handed and handed both prints to Temari. "If you _really_ must know."

'What the hell?' Temari noticed the similarities in the prints. 'Same background, same pose…'

"I didn't read the back. You can…but remember, you can't tell anyone about this." Chouji reminded. 'If Temari tells anyone about this, I'm dead.'

Temari flipped Ino's picture over to the back and started reading her writing. She quickly smirked. 'She _definitely_ has neater writing than me.' After reading most of Ino's writing, Temari had to bring the print close up to her face and squint her eyes. 'I was right…just like a school-boy crush.' Temari slightly chuckled.

"Something funny intended in there?" Chouji raised an eyebrow.

"Nope. It wasn't intended. That's what's so sad about this girl. She's very immature." Temari armed both prints out to Chouji.

"Hey! Ino is not sad! She's a great girl!" Chouji retorted at Temari. He _had_ to defend his teammate.

"You still like her?" Temari lifted an eyebrow.

Chouji couldn't help but blush madly.

"Why don't you go after her then? You know…take initiative." Temari suggested.

"Why don't you 'go after' Shikamaru? You seem to like him an awful lot." Chouji asked back.

"I am. I'm just doing it when the opportunity comes. I haven't had many opportunities; you have. Being her teammate, you should have all the times in the world to ask her out or tell her how you feel. Ninja don't live long…you should ask before it's too late." Temari enlightened. "But you know…it's just _my_ opinion."

"Yeah…" Chouji said lowly.

"I guess I'd better go." Temari walked towards the backyard door. "Hey, Chouji?" She said, stopping in front of the door.

"Huh?" Chouji looked up at Temari.

"Don't miss your chance." Temari smiled genuinely. "I'm trying to be 'nice' so take my advice while it's still good." The blonde kunoichi turned to doorknob and closed the door softly. There was a slight pause of silence, until Temari's head popped back in from the door. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you something."

"Yeah?"

"If you even _think_ of redistributing those snapshots of me…you're dead." Temari glared at Chouji with seriousness. "_And_…I'm not like Ino. You _can_ read my note. It might just help you." She winced at Chouji and closed the door quietly again.

Chouji sighed loudly. "Girls…Shikamaru's right…they _are_ troublesome."

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**A/N: **So, yeah. I started writing the 6th chapter as the 5th chapter, but then changed it so everyone could find out what exactly happened before. If you have an ideas or anything…message me or something about it. There will be romance as soon as possible! I'm sorry for all the delay!


	7. Chapter 6 An Interrupted Argument

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, Asuma would not have died.**

**A/N: **I love the beginning of this chapter! It's only five sentences long, but it sounds pretty cool. It's all dramatic and whatnot. You'll just have to read it to find out what I'm talking about.

Sorry about being late. I know I told people it would be out two days ago, but an unfortunate event occurred, and well, yeah. I'm really behind now.

**Published November 16, 2006**

**Chapter 6 - Interrupted Argument**

_Five hours ago…_

A surge of, what felt like an electric shock, ran through her body. 'He knows.' Her mind thought instantly. She smirked and chuckled slightly. 'Took him long enough.'

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Back in Shikamaru's office, Shikamaru was pacing, something he would usually _never_ do because, of course, it was _too_ troublesome.

"You could always pretend like this never happened." Chouji suggested, trying to cheer Shikamaru up.

"Chouji…." Shikamaru stated. "I'm a genius, remember? Don't you think I would have thought of that by now?"

"I'm just _saying_…why not?" Chouji asked.

"The female species is something I cannot understand and will never understand completely, but I do know this…" Shikamaru breathed in and sighed. "…women have a weird way of knowing things. It's like a sixth sense or _something_…they just know."

Chouji shivered. "Creepy."

"Very. Aren't you glad you're a guy?"

Chouji nodded. "Yup…most definitely."

"I guess I have to take extreme measures." Shikamaru sighed and sat down with his legs crossed. His left fingertips touched his right hand's fingertips. He went into his thinking position.

There was complete silence. Chouji wouldn't dare eat a chip when Shikamaru was thinking. Chouji was a good friend, so he just watched as Shikamaru had his eyes closed, thinking about a way to get out of this mess alive.

There was silence and more silence like a calm windless desert. The stillness stood for what seemed like days, which was really two hours.

Shikamaru opened his eyes.

Chouji had almost fallen asleep. Trying to stay quiet with no food to eat or anything to occupy his time with was hard.

"You're still awake?" Shikamaru was surprised at his best friend he _thought_ he knew better than most. "I must've been at least a couple of hours."

"Two hours, 4 minutes, and 6 seconds." Chouji yawned. "So you finally found an answer?"

"Yeah…" Shikamaru said depressingly.

"So…?" Chouji grinned happily.

"Make sure I get a Shogi board buried with me at my funeral." Shikamaru stated seriously.

"You're kidding right? There's more right?" Chouji raised an eyebrow. 'He had better be kidding. I did _not_ let him have two hours of silence just to say he wants a Shogi board at his funeral!'

"Yeah…I want a small tombstone made of gray marble. Just have it say 'R.I.P. Nara Shikamaru'. You don't even have to put my year or anything." Shikamaru continued being ever-so serious.

"WHAT?!" Chouji was as infuriated as he would get if someone called him 'fat'. "I didn't do anything, not even eat my chips, for two whole hours so you could say what you wanted for your funeral?!" Chouji shouted. "You're going to make a decision, and you're going to make it now, or Kami help me, I'll make a decision for you!"

"Oh whatever will I do?" Shikamaru sarcastically spoke in his lazy tone.

"Shikamaru!" Chouji shouted. He was getting very angry since his best friend wasn't making any progress.

"Chouji!" Shikamaru moaned. "Just make a decision for me!"

"Fine!" Chouji crossed his arms and thought of a solution. After ten seconds of Shikamaru waiting impatiently for Chouji's answer, he found a solution. "_You_ have to make the decision, or _else_…I'll bring Ino and Temari into this very room and fight for you!

"Nani (what)?!" Shikamaru's eyes opened widely. Then he waved his hands frantically in front of himself. "Chouji, Chouji…let's just talk about this…"

"We've been talking about it for the past…" Chouji turned to look at the analog clock hanging from the western wall. "…five hours!" Chouji stomped over to the telephone on Shikamaru's desk.

"Chouji! No, don't!" Shikamaru yelled dramatically, which was very unlike him.

"Sorry, Shikamaru…but a ninja's gotta do what a ninja's gotta do." Chouji quoted trying to sound very serious. He picked up the telephone and started to dial Ino's cell phone number. (**A/N:** Yes, Ino has a cell phone…at least, now she does. It was in one of the anime credits.)

Shikamaru thought it would be best to try and stop Chouji, but realized soon later that Chouji would call both girls later anyways. Also, he knew the outcome would be death anyways, so he might as well die being known as 'the guy who died because two hot blondes were fighting over him'. 'That's catchy.' Shikamaru thought.

Chouji slammed the phone down onto the receiver. "The dark deed has been done." Chouji glared at Shikamaru evilly. He looked like he was possessed.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at Chouji. "Uh…okay…"

Chouji quickly changed his appearance from evilly possessed to happy schoolgirl. "I should get back home. Bye, Shikamaru!" Chouji almost skipped to the door.

'Oh no. Whenever a boy skips, it's not good.' Shikamaru thought. 'This must be bad.' He sighed.

Before Chouji opened the door, a thought came to his mind. "Oh yeah!" He turned around to face Shikamaru. "Don't do anything next Friday, okay?" Chouji said cheerfully.

"Why not?" Shikamaru almost hesitated to ask, scared of what the answer would be.

Chouji turned on his evil, creepy, face. "Just don't…"

You could just see the anime water drop on Shikamaru's face. "Uh…okay…" Shikamaru said uncertain.

"Well, bye!" Chouji waved and left.

Shikamaru slouched as he sighed. "Friends are troublesome." He said out loud to himself.

In an instant, there was a knock on the door.

Shikamaru slowly slugged back to his chair. "Come in." He said lazily.

A lavender-haired intern walked inside, carrying a stack of papers, blocking her face. "Here are some more papers, Shikamaru-kun!" The intern slammed the stack down onto his desk. She smiled cheerfully at Shikamaru and stood there for a long moment.

"Yes?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Will you go out with me?!" The lavender-haired maiden batted her eyelashes at Shikamaru.

"No." Shikamaru said plainly.

"Oh." The girl sighed. "Is there anything you'd like, Shikamaru-kun?" She said the words she was forced to say everyday cheerlessly.

"Yes…"

"Yeah?!" The intern looked as ecstatic as she could ever be. 'Maybe he changed his mind!'

"Don't call me Shikamaru-kun…" Shikamaru said monotonously.

The intern pouted. "Yes, Shikamaru-sama." She mumbled as she walked towards the door and slammed it as hard as she could.

This time Shikamaru's pictures didn't fall down, but his clock did.

"Troublesome interns with their troublesome fangirl attitude and their troublesome hard slamming." Shikamaru mumbled as he called someone who could fix the clock. 'One more down, too many more to go.'

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_One week later…_

Ino closed her eyelids shut. She loudly breathed in and out to calm herself. 'Okay…just go in and ask him straight out front, 'yes or no'. That's all you gotta do, Ino. Simple as that.' She was now in a calm state, that is, until she opened her eyes and saw _her_ sitting on the bench in front of Shikamaru's office.

'Oh damn it. Why is _she_ here?' Ino angered in her head. 'She better get lost. Chouji asked _me_ to see Shikamaru.' A shocking thought ran through Ino's head. 'No way. It's not possible. No, no, no! That can't be right.' Ino shook her head vigorously.

'What the? That childish brat better not be here to see Shikamaru or else I'll have to kill her _and_ Chouji. Chouji…he's so dead if he thinks he can get away with this.' Temari crossed her arms and stared at Ino. "Hey Yamanaka, what are _you_ doing here?" Temari yelled across the hall, trying to sound friendly.

"Huh?" Ino stopped shaking her head and stared at Temari. 'That slut.' She thought as she walked over to Temari. Ino had a fake smile on her face, trying to fool Temari. "What are you doing here, Temari?" Ino asked sounding friendly and polite.

"Waiting for Shikamaru. He's in a meeting." Temari was still trying to sound as kind as possible.

"Really? What a coincidence! I'm waiting for Shikamaru too!" Ino said trying to sound surprised. You could tell she was faking it.

Temari sighed loudly. "Let's just stop this now, Yamanaka. We're both here to see Shikamaru. I don't want you here as much as you don't want me." Temari stopped acting.

"Fine." Ino said in a 'hmph' kind of tone. She sat down next to Temari.

_After 30 seconds of silence._

"So…it's been a while." Ino started.

"Yeah. So?" Temari said rudely.

"I'm just _saying_ it's been a while since we last _spoke_ to each other." Ino retorted.

"If only it could've stayed that way." Temari rudely commented.

"I _thought_ we were _friends_, Temari." Ino said back angrily.

"Well you thought _wrong_, Ino. I'm _not_ your friend. At the most we were acquaintances." Temari cleared up.

"Really? Well I thought we were friends!" Ino shouted dramatically, almost crying.

"Stop it! You are so stupid and naïve! You have no idea when someone's pretending. It was all an act! You fell for it. As a ninja, _you_ should know emotions must never show." Temari said lowly, still keeping her cool.

"Uh! How could you say that?! We _were_ friends and you know it. A good ninja doesn't show emotion, but a great ninja shows emotion and handles the consequences that come with it." Ino pointed out. She had a good point.

"Well a ninja knows that you shouldn't do more than you have to. Why should you handle consequences when you don't need to?" Temari challenged Ino.

"It's harder to hide your emotions than take in the consequences of showing them." Ino fought back. "But then again, you're emotionless, aren't you? You and your brothers are all unemotional. It must run in the family." Ino thought she had won but she crossed the line.

"That's it. Emotions or not, you do not talk about me _or_ my brothers that way." Temari stood up and glared at Ino with intent to kill.

"Bring. It. On." Ino had wanted this for a while. "Don't you even think you can steal Shikamaru away from me. He's mine." Ino stood up as well.

"You've had your chance all these years. If he hasn't said anything yet, what makes you think he really likes you that way?" Temari opened her fan. "I barely knew him and look at us now. We're closer than you two ever were. You might as well give up and try going out with Chouji."

"Chouji? He's one of my best friends. Why would I go out with him?" Ino raised an eyebrow.

Temari sighed and shook her head in disappointment. "Tsk, tsk. Yamanaka, you give a bad name to blondes. You have never seen what was right in front of you. You go after the hard-to-get who'll you'll never get. It's not worth it, Yamanaka. Chouji. Likes. You." Temari said slowly for Ino to comprehend.

"Wha-what?" Ino grew wide, then narrowed.

"Hello?! I just said it very slowly. Do I have to go slower? Chouji…likes…you…" Temari said even slower than before.

"That's impossible!" Ino shouted.

"Is it?" Temari raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms. "I mean, he _is_ very close to you. Have you been _so_ sightless trying to win Shikamaru's heart that you haven't noticed the person who's done everything for you, been through everything with you, and would always take care of you, loves you?" Temari shrugged. "I guess you're just a _little_ too immature to care about what's inside. You rag about his weight all the time. I see it _and_ hear it from Shikamaru. You are so superficial, it's sad." Temari glared at Ino with disgrace.

"Like _you_ care. You don't _care_ about Shikamaru! _I_ care about Shikamaru! You mean nothing to him and he means nothing to you! I'm his best friend!" Ino eyes started to water but not enough to create tears.

"Ha! That's what you think!" Temari laid both hands on her hip. "You're blinder than I thought. He cares about me more than you'll ever know! We actually have a relationship worth something. You're just someone he _had_ to be stuck with." Temari pointed at Ino. "You may or may not know this, but Shikamaru _chose_ to be around me. He _chose_ to be my escort. We can actually have an intellectual conversation unlike…" Temari looked up and down Ino. "…you." She crossed her arms. "He doesn't like you that way, okay?"

"Well, he may not have _wanted_ to be 'stuck with me' but he _was_ and it was fate that brought us together!" Ino put her arms up, ready to fight.

"Psh…whatever. That is so cliché. I am _not_ going to reduce myself to childish fights." Temari sat back down with her arms still crossed.

Ino sat back down with her arms crossed as well. "Hmph. You're the one who started it, slut." Ino muttered under her breath.

"What did you call me?" Temari stood back up, enraged by Ino's comment.

Ino rolled her eyes. "You heard me! I called you a 'slut'. S-L-U-T, slut. Got it?"

"Don't go calling me a slut! I am not a slut. You're the slut. You go prancing around in your skimpy little outfit." Temari pointed at Ino's choice of clothing.

"Well your clothes aren't exactly 'loose-fitting'. If I'm a _slut_, _you_ must be a prostitute." Ino pointed at Temari.

"I'm impressed, Ino." Temari said sarcastically.

"Well thank you." Ino couldn't hear the sarcastic-ness in Temari's voice.

"I didn't know you even knew what the word prostitute meant." Temari chuckled slightly.

Ino thought of the first comeback in her head. "Shut up, slut!"

"I thought we _already_ went through this." Temari sighed, annoyed at Ino. "I am not a slut, okay? Get it into your empty little head!" Temari was definitely irritated.

"Now you're just asking for a fight." Ino held her hands in fists.

"Oh, please. I've said it before." Temari crossed her arms and closed her eyes gently. "I am not going to reduce myself to such childish acts."

"Psh, whatever. _You_ just know you would lose to me." Ino shrugged. "But, you know, I wouldn't blame you. I _am_ a pretty great kunoichi."

"Please. Like I would ever be beaten by a 16 year-old _Chuunin_?" Temari put the tip of her fingers on her chest. "I'm 19 _and_ a Jounin. You could _never_ beat me." Temari scowled at Ino.

"We'll see about that." Ino decided to land a punch on Temari's face, but something stopped her.

"Okay, you two; that's enough. It's going a _little_ too far now." It was the Fifth Hokage herself, one of the Three Legendary Sannin, Tsunade. "We don't want anyone to get hurt now."

"But it would be a great girl-fight!" Shouted Kotetsu and Izumo.

"What?!" Both Ino and Temari glared at Kotetsu and Izumo with murderous intent.

"Uhh…nothing?" Izumo and Kotetsu spoke nervously.

"Damn right better be nothing!" Temari raised her voice ever-so slightly.

"Wait a minute…what are you doing here Tsunade-sama?" Ino turned to Tsunade looking very confused.

"I've been here almost the whole time. I heard from a certain source that there was going to be a little argument today." Tsunade put both hands on her waist. "I didn't think it would be you two kunoichis."

"Y-You three were here the _whole_ time?" Ino almost fainted at the thought of Tsunade listening to her and Temari argue over Shikamaru.

"The whole time..." Temari contemplated. "…oh m-" Temari could barely speak. She suddenly stopped when she saw that Shikamaru's office door was open. Temari straightened her composure. 'I'm not supposed to show emotions!' She thought in her head as she stood up. "Well…I guess I should go." Temari acted coolly. "Sayonara (goodbye), Tsunade." Temari smiled politely. "_Ino_." She muttered, barely audible, in disgust.

"_Temari_." Ino said with just as much disgust.

"I think I missed something. _Why_ are they fighting over Shikamaru?" Kotetsu whispered to Izumo.

"Don't ask _me_. I have no idea." Izumo truthfully said, just as confused as Kotetsu.

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_In Shikamaru's office._

One ring… two rings…three rings…

"Moshi, moshi (Hello). This is Nara Shikamaru." Shikamaru said monotonously. He did not like being forced to say this every time on the phone.

"Shikamaru!" A cheerful voice, well, cheered over the phone.

Shikamaru sighed. "Yeah, Chouji?"

"Did they come?!" An energetic Chouji asked.

"Yup." Shikamaru answered just as lazily as always.

"And…?" Chouji asked, expecting some good news.

"They started arguing…" Shikamaru sighed before he continued. "…about me." He was almost embarrassed to admit.

"And?!" Chouji said even more excitedly.

"And? And what?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "There was no and. That's it. They fought and Temari left." Shikamaru looked out his door. "Ino left as well."

"Well, didn't you listen to them?" Chouji said like it was so obvious.

"It's too troublesome to listen…especially to women." Shikamaru used his favorite phrase again.

"Shikamaru! This was supposed to help you make your decision!" Chouji yelled over the phone.

Shikamaru had to hold the phone an arm's length away due to Chouji's noisy chat. "Chouji!" Shikamaru raised his voice, but not enough to be considered shouting.

"Yeah?" Chouji stopped yelling and went back to his usual volume.

"How exactly would this help me with my decision?" Shikamaru asked, clueless of anything that had to with women.

"Well…" Chouji said before going into a long but speedy talk in one breath. "You see, if Ino and Temari see each other, there's bound to be some tension. Both of them will talk and chat about you and who should be with you. If you listened, you would find out some good reasons why that girl should or should not be with you. Also, you'll find out how much they really want you. You may even find out some secrets that only the two of them know. But the best part is…" Chouji took a second to breathe. "…if they start a catfight, whoever wins would be the one that loves you more."

"Not necessarily. Temari would win because she's an older Jounin. Ino is only a Chuunin." Shikamaru corrected.

"Nuh, uh-uh." Chouji corrected back. "That's not true. It's cliché, but love will conquer all. If Ino really loved you more than Temari, she'd do anything to beat Temari, which increases her stamina which would most likely have her win." Chouji said in one breath yet again. He was good at long one-breath speeches.

Shikamaru sighed. "This is too troublesome. I didn't get to see a 'catfight' anyways. Tsunade-sama butt-in right before. Kotetsu and Izumo were listening too. Definitely too much troublesome business going around."

"So, Izumo and Kotetsu know as well?" Chouji asked wanting a confirmation.

"Hai."

"We could always ask for their opinion…." Chouji suggested.

"Hell no." Shikamaru said lowly.

"Fine, fine. You still have to choose, though." Chouji reminded.

"I know…" Shikamaru sighed for the millionth time.

"So…"

"I like lilies. Have lilies at my funeral." Was all Shikamaru answered with.

Chouji sighed. "What color?" He couldn't help going along with Shikamaru.

"White…cloud white."

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**A/N: **I just felt like putting in Kotetsu and Izumo. They're pretty cool! I don't know if they're Tsunade's helpers anymore though. They were in the anime, so yeah. And since chapter 328, what else would they do? Anyways, I hope this chapter wasn't _too_ bad. I wanted Ino and Temari to argue with each other a little. I've already written some of the last chapter. I love how it turned out (the last chapter, not this chapter). I have no idea what's going to happen next, so we'll all have to wait and read.


	8. Chapter 7 Understanding the Past

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, Shikamaru would not have started smoking.**

**A/N: **Very late again, I know. It's been a pain to write. At least I have a long Thanksgiving vacation to finish and maybe catch up with my word count. I'm way behind. I hope you like this chapter anyways. I thought the ending was a little lagging, but it's a pretty funny, yet informative chapter.

**Published November 22, 2006**

**Chapter 7 - Understanding the Past**

"Where does she get the right to go around talking smack 'bout me? She's talking to an elite Jounin here. Who does she think she is? Going around here messing up…" Temari muttered as she stomped her way to her Konoha home. Since she was a liaison, she needed a place to stay. Not wanting to stay at a hotel for so long, Tsunade arranged for Temari to have her own apartment. Later, though, Gaara and Kankuro had been coming for long periods of time, so Temari had an apartment _and_ a house to share with her brothers. (**A/N:** That didn't really happen. It's only in my story) Yup, it was great having your little brother as the Kazekage.

"Hey, Tem-" Kankuro greeted while working on a puppet, but was interrupted by Temari's palm facing him.

"Don't talk to me!" Temari warned loudly as she thumped inside the Sand Sibling house. "I'm not in the mood." She finished. "That little brat…slut…annoying…stupid…" Temari emphasized as she mumbled many vicious sentences about Ino. She went to her room and slammed the door hard.

'Yup, PMS-ing, again.' Kankuro thought.

"Temari's home?" Gaara asked, somewhat of a statement.

"Yup." Kankuro nodded, not looking up at Gaara. "I wonder what she's angry about this time…" Kankuro wondered, but didn't really care for an answer.

"Must've seen Ino today." Gaara assumed.

"How would you know?" Kankuro looked up at Gaara and raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't you hear what Temari was talking about when she went into her room? Isn't it obvious?" Gaara asked monotonously.

Kankuro shook his head. He felt very dumb to have his little brother know more than him, but then again, he didn't really care to know about Temari and girl issues. Kankuro shrugged. "I think she's just PMS-ing."

Gaara shook his head in disagreement. "This morning, Temari was unusually 'peppy' this morning." Gaara said, using a very spiffy word he would usually never use.

Kankuro still looked dumbfounded.

"Doesn't that tell you anything?" Gaara would be raising an eyebrow right now if he had one.

Kankuro actually tried to understand what Gaara was trying to say, but in the end, he couldn't. "I still think she's PMS-ing."

Gaara had to sigh. "Why must you always think she is PMS-ing whenever she's acting strange?"

"Because…" Kankuro tried to think of an intellectual answer. "…it's a simple explanation to everything." He grinned at his 'intellectual' answer.

Gaara shook his head again. Without another word, he left the room.

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"_She_ thinks she can beat me. Just because I'm a Chuunin doesn't mean I can't beat her. I could whip her ass any day." Ino muttered as she trudged her way through the streets. Surprisingly, Temari and Ino never bumped into each other.

"Hi, Ino!" A pleasant voice greeted.

"I mean, sure, a Jounin is supposed to be more experienced and trained than a Chuunin, but that doesn't mean I can't beat her up. I'm a strong ninja. I mean, really, I could beat her up if I really wanted to." Ino mumbled to herself, not hearing anything around her.

"Ino?" A hand waved in front of her face.

Ino squeaked like a mouse. "What was that for?!" She angered. "I was _trying_ to think here!" Ino spoke very 'valley-girl'-like.

"S-Sorry, I-Ino." A soft voice stuttered. It could only be one person.

"Hinata! Hi!" Ino hugged Hinata tightly as if the two hadn't seen each other in ages.

"Oh yeah. Thanks for noticing me." An annoyed voice interrupted.

"Oh, it's you. Hey Kiba." Ino said lazily, showing that she didn't care. "Well, what are _you_ two doing here?" Ino raised her eyebrows at Hinata, suggesting something.

Hinata blushed a bright red. "Oh, n-nothing, Ino. J-Just walk-king."

"_Sure_." Ino acted.

"So, what are were you mumbling about? Boy troubles again?" Kiba asked, but he already knew it would be about Shikamaru.

"No!" Ino said rather loudly. "I mean, why would I have boy troubles? Any guy would be lucky to go out with me." Ino pushed up her hair, emphasizing her beauty. Then she crossed her arms and closed her eyes, making a 'hmph' sound.

"Tch. Whatever." Kiba then thought of a devilish idea. "Hey, Ino." Kiba's voice turned almost a whisper.

"What?" Ino said at her normal volume. She opened one eye.

"Do you know what Shikamaru said about you a couple days ago?" Kiba was still whispering.

"What?" Ino still said at the same volume. Both of her eyes were open, in deep in curiosity.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I thought you would know." Kiba spoke normally.

Ino grumbled in anger. '_Nobody_ messes with my emotions!' She thought in her head, glaring at Kiba. As soon as the thought ran through her mind, Ino punched Kiba all the way to the end of the block. You couldn't even see him.

Hinata gasped. "Kiba!" She, umm, well she didn't yell. She spoke as loudly as a normal person usually spoke. "It was nice seeing you, Ino." Hinata slightly bowed and ran to the direction she last saw Kiba.

Ino sighed with her eyes closed. "Boys." She sighed again. "They just never learn."

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"So I think it's stupid to try and do any of that junk. You know what I mean?" Kankuro tried to explain.

"I have no idea." Gaara answered.

"Well, I don't expect _you_ to get it yet." Kankuro said.

"_I_ don't get it either. You suck at explaining things Kankuro." Temari pointed out. "I mean, if _I_ don't get it, you must be doing something wrong and idiotic." Temari insulted her younger brother.

"But it's so simple! Let me explain again." Kankuro wanted to get his point of view out to his siblings.

Both Gaara and Temari sighed loudly.

Kankuro just ignored the sighing. "Okay, so Temari asked to go out with Shikamaru." Kankuro stopped. "Get it so far?"

"No." Gaara said plainly.

"I don't get it either. I didn't ask him to go out with me. I merely asked if he liked me." Temari straightened.

"What's the difference?" Kankuro asked rhetorically. "I mean, if you ask someone if they like you, it's usually because you like them back. Am I right?"

"_Sure_." Temari hesitated. She still didn't get it that much, but she wanted Kankuro to finish his long clarification. "But wait. I told him that he should go out with Ino. I was still 'friends' with her." Temari used her fingers as bunny-ears to quote 'friends'.

"Exactly!" Kankuro pointed at Temari. "_That_ means that you do want to ask him out!"

"What? Okay that makes even less sense than what you said before." Temari was confused with all this talk about dating and friends and everything else that came with it. 'How do I even know if Kankuro's right about any of this?' Temari thought with doubt.

"You showed your soft side! Don't try and say you didn't. A guy wants someone who is sweet sometimes. _You_," Kankuro pointed at Temari again. ", said that he should go out with Ino. That makes him think that you are kindhearted and tells him that there's no pressure if he doesn't choose you. _That_ makes him want to choose you more! You probably don't know it, but you're a very conniving evil bitch."

"Hey! Don't call me a bitch!" Temari shouted. She felt offended, but it's not like she hasn't been called a 'bitch' before. 'Wow, I just overreacted. Damn! Boys make me feel like I'm PMS-ing!'

"Gomen, gomen (sorry, sorry)!" Kankuro waved his hands in front of himself. 'Geez, I almost made her go ballistic again.'

"Can we get back on-topic?" Gaara said monotonously. Though he didn't look like he cared, Gaara _did_ care. He listened very attentively, just in case a scenario like this ever happened to him.

"Yes, okay. Now, do you get me so far?" Kankuro asked Temari.

"I think so." Temari tried to understand everything. "So, I asked Shikamaru to go out with me and now he doesn't know what to do. I've made it hard for him to choose because of what I wrote?"

"Yup." Kankuro nodded.

"Okay…well now that I see that…This is all stupid. I mean really. It's so stupid and childish to try and _make_ him fall in love with me. If he can't choose now, how will he choose at all? If he says 'yes' to me, our whole relationship would be a lie and everything would go downhill from there." Temari realized in bitterness.

"Exactly! That's what I've been trying to say this whole time!" Kankuro was happy with joy.

"You explained it horribly, Kankuro! Why ya have to make everything so confusing!" Temari yelled at Kankuro.

Kankuro's happiness turned into frightening terror. "G-Gomen (s-sorry)?" Kankuro stuttered with fear.

"Yeah! You better be sorry! All this time you were talking on and on about random complex thoughts, when your thoughts on this were as simple as the sky!" Temari was still angered at Kankuro for wasting her time. "I could've been out training! But no! I stayed inside to listen to my stupid little brother!"

"Well, actually, the sky is…n't that sim…ple." Kankuro slowed down his words once he saw Temari's scary eyes glaring at him. Kankuro nervously laughed. "Forget I said anything."

"Don't worry, I will." Temari muttered.

"I think maybe you're just overreacting…a tad." Kankuro took a chance and spoke his though.

"Whatever! That's what you think! I could have been doing something much more productive, yet I stayed in here to listen to your hours of nonsense. Right, Gaara?" Temari shouted. She looked at Gaara, waiting for an answer.

Gaara looked at Temari, then Kankuro, then back at Temari. "Hn." He stood up and walked straight to his room. Then he shut the door quietly, with a bare creak from the door.

"Thanks, Gaara!" Temari said cheerfully at the door. Then she turned and had an irritated look at Kankuro. "See, _Gaara_ agrees with me!"

"No he didn't! He agreed with me! That was so a 'no' hn!" Kankuro argued back.

"Hello! He said the 'hn' in A!" Temari retorted.

"No he didn't! It was a B!" Kankuro retorted back.

"Fine! Let's go ask then!" Temari walked Gaara's bedroom door. She knocked softly. "Gaara. Can you tell me what note you said 'hn' in?" Temari asked politely.

"B flat." Gaara said in his usual monotonous voice.

"Thanks again, Gaara!" Temari said, turning around and walking back to Kankuro.

"What'd he say?" Kankuro asked.

"B flat." Temari said with doubt.

"B flat?" Kankuro took out a small notebook from his pocket. "B flat, B flat, B flat, here!" Kankuro pointed to a page in the book.

"Hm?" Temari looked in the book. "I don't care. Shut up or I'll kill you?" Temari looked up at Kankuro. "Okay, who wrote that one down?" She looked back down at the page. "Gaara wrote it…umm…this never happened."

Kankuro closed the book quickly. "Nope, nothing happened at all."

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Ino sighed with boredom. "Sigh, I have no one to talk to." She said to herself.

"Awww," A voice said playfully. "Looks like little Ino here needs some help." A distinctive voice spoke, still playfully, surprising Ino.

"Maybe we should help her." Another voice spoke almost teasingly.

Ino sighed. She did _not_ want to talk to _them_ right now. "Shut up, Neji."

A laugh of victory could be heard in the background as Neji made a 'hn' sound. "Thanks." Neji said with sarcastic-ness written all over it. "You say shut up to me but not the baka (idiot) over here. I. Am. Hurt." Neji said humorously.

"I'm. Not. A. baka (idiot)." Sasuke mumbled under his breath. "She just likes me better."

"_Sure_ she does. But we _both_ know who she really likes." Neji smirked at Sasuke.

Sasuke smirked back and nodded. He turned to Ino. "So Ino, I heard you asked Shikamaru out." Sasuke waited for Ino's reply.

"Yeah, so?" Ino looked down, almost blushing.

Sasuke smirked. "Well, you know he's thinking about it. You're eligible to be his date."

"Potentially eligible." Neji added. (**A/N:** OMG. That was from a letter I got from Lowell High School that said I was 'potentially eligible' to get into their school. I was like lol. They wasted a tree just to tell me that?!)

"Yeah. And your point is?" Ino didn't really care about what the two ANBU were saying.

"Basically, _we_ want help _you_." Neji pointed at himself and Sasuke, then at Ino, making sure he was clear and Ino understood.

"Why would you do that? I thought you always thought of me as a clueless girl blonde with longer hair than you. _And_ a bad fighter with no foundation or strategy, not fit to be a Chuunin.

Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle just a tad. "Longer hair than you. Definitely, Neji."

"And you!" Ino pointed directly at the Uchiha. "I thought you always thought of me as an annoying fangirl who didn't have a life other than following you around. And you _also_ didn't think I was a good enough to become a Chuunin." Ino had proven her point. "So there's no reason why I would need help from you two when you don't even like me."

"Well you might as well accept our help. I mean…" Neji started.

"…we _are_ two of the smartest ninjas in Konoha, next to Shikamaru, and well…" Sasuke finished for Neji.

"…you can't really talk to Shikamaru about you and Shikamaru." Neji completed Sasuke's sentence.

"Plus, we're both supposed to be at work…" Sasuke started.

"…and Tsunade-sama gave us the oddest of places to go on missions so…" Neji continued.

"…we told her we would stay and help you out. One fellow ninja to another…" Sasuke nodded.

"…and Tsunade-sama agreed but I don't think she was paying much attention…" Neji thought out loud.

"…she wasn't." Sasuke confirmed.

"She had a lot of paperwork to do…" Neji explained.

"…and she was drinking a _little_ too much Sake."

"And a little is a big understatement. You should've seen her garbage basket." Neji said.

"Oh yeah. There were almost ten bottles in there." Sasuke commented.

"And the-" Neji started but was cut off by Ino.

"Uh-hmm." Ino pretended to clear her throat very loudly. "Umm…yeah…we're supposed to be talking about me, remember?"

"Oh, right." Sasuke nodded.

"Let's start." Neji suggested.

"Okay. First of all, you two _have_ to stop finishing each other's sentences. It's getting kind of creepy!" Ino said, shivering.

Both Jounin sighed. "Okay." They said in unison.

"What do we talk about first?" Ino asked.

"What's your question?" Neji asked.

"Umm…what do we talk about first?" Ino said hesitantly, not sure of what Neji meant.

"No, I mean what do _you_ want _us_ to help you find out?" Neji asked slowly, pointing to Ino, and then at Sasuke and himself, making sure Ino understood what he was saying this time.

"I just want to talk about Shikamaru and going out with him in general." Ino said truthfully. She didn't have _one_ question in her head, she had a million.

"Okay…" Neji said uncertainly. "First question…"

"Why do you like someone like Shikamaru?" Sasuke asked.

"How's that going to help?" Ino asked.

"_Someone's_ jealous…" Neji whispered to Ino.

"I heard that!" Sasuke said. "I am not jealous. If we know _why_ she likes him, we can understand her situation better which will increase our chances of helping her for the better." Sasuke thought up in a quick second.

"You are _so_ jealous." Neji shook his head and almost chuckled.

"Umm…back to me?" Ino spoke.

"Yeah, yeah. We're getting to that." Sasuke waved his hand in front of himself like a broom sweeper.

"All of this is ludicrous if you think about it." Neji decided to get on-topic and speak his opinion. "There is no point in talking about Shikamaru because in the end, it's not our decision, it's Shikamaru's and we shouldn't alter his decision."

"But we _can_ alter his decision. We're here to help Ino, not Temari, not Shikamaru. Just Ino." Sasuke reminded.

"Fine." Neji admitted defeat. He didn't really feel like arguing anyways.

"So, anyways, I like Shikamaru and I asked him out. I didn't think it was _that_ big of a deal, but I guess it was. I mean I knew it could create complications, but I thought we could work it out, you know? But he made such a big deal about it…hey, wait a minute! How did you two know about this whole dating thing?!" Ino's eyes started to burn with anger.

"Uhhh…" Sasuke started to feel sweat coming down his forehead. "You see…"

"We're geniuses. We don't have an IQ over 200 but we're pretty smart." Neji partially lied.

"I guess that's possible. You two _are_ pretty smart." Ino sighed. "I guess I'll take that reason, even though it was pretty lame."

Neji snorted. "Hn."

"So yeah. Shikamaru makes a big deal out of everything. But I guess I could see how this could turn into something big and drastic. I didn't even know Temari _liked_ Shikamaru that way! I thought she was my friend. She knew I liked him, but she went after him anyways! She's such a bi-" Ino stopped. She breathed in and out very slowly.

Sasuke and Neji both raised one of their eyebrows. 'Nani (what)?' The so-called geniuses thought.

"I have to stay calm. I can't let that…girl…take Shikamaru away from me." Ino said confidently.

"How are you going to do that?" Neji asked.

"I don't know! _You_ two are the smart-asses!" Ino said rather loudly.

"If only you asked him before…long before Temari ever had a chance to ask him…" Sasuke thought hopelessly. "Why _didn't_ you ask him before? You waited for three years before asking him on a date? That's kind of…long…"

"Well, I didn't really know if I liked him that much. He was more of just a friend. Then, he became a Chuunin and started getting…hot." Ino admitted, blushing.

Neji raised an eyebrow. "Hot? He just became hot after becoming a Chuunin?" He wondered.

"It's probably the jacket. Shikamaru has, like, no muscle. That jacket made him look buff…but you _know_ he really wasn't." Sasuke assumed.

"That jacket also made him taller. Did you notice that? He was almost my height. I don't know how that jacket does that!" Neji noticed.

"I noticed that too!" Sasuke agreed.

"I could've become a Chuunin too, if I wasn't trying to kill Naruto." Neji muttered under his breath.

"Yeah, sure." Sasuke spoke sarcastically. "You weren't thinking at all!" He commented. "_I_, on the other hand, could've become a Chuunin though. I mean, if Orochimaru didn't come, I could've finished my battle with Gaara."

"Who cares?!" Ino shouted. "You two talk too much! I didn't finish what I was saying!"

Sasuke and Neji stopped talking. They knew it was best if they didn't interrupt Ino any longer.

"Hmph. Thank you." Ino pouted her lips. "Okay. _Like_ I was _saying_, I didn't start to have strong feelings for Shikamaru until he became a Chuunin. Maybe I did have feelings for him before, but I probably let it go because I didn't want to ruin our friendship. Then 'Miss Suna' comes along with her stupid fan and gets in my way! Who did she think she was? I flirted with Shikamaru all the time and she didn't take it as a hint or anything! But she left and went back to Suna. _I_ thought that was going to be the last of her, but _nooo_! She comes back and becomes a liaison from Suna and coincidently she gets escorted by Shikamaru! I'm like 'What the hell is wrong with her!' and after that she starts hanging out with me and Chouji. I _try_ to be nice to her and be friends with her. She acts and makes me think she's my friend, but stabs me in the back later! I hate her so much!" Ino was now infuriated as she vented her feelings.

"Well, that's great progress…" Sasuke said as we stepped back a little.

"Yeah…we're moving forward…" Neji agreed as he also stepped back.

"Thanks you two." Ino smiled cheerfully. "Now that I've said everything, I think I've come to a conclusion. Well I think all of this isn't worth it. I mean, if he doesn't know by now if he loves me, why should I wait for his answer? I've known him for what seems like forever and he _still_ doesn't know what his feelings for me are. There's really no point in trying to get him to like me. Right?" Ino looked happy yet scary at the same time.

"Umm…yes?" Neji wondered if he said the right answer.

"Great!" Ino continued to smile scarily.

"Oh, look at the time." Sasuke looked at his wrist even though he wasn't wearing a watch. "Looks likes we should get going." He said as he stepped backwards more and more.

"Yeah. We don't want Tsunade-sama to get mad as us." Neji started taking larger strides backwards.

"Ja ne (goodbye)!" They both said at the same time as they ran away as fast as they could.

'What's up with them?' Ino thought. 'Hey, isn't the Hokage's office in the other direction?'

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**A/N: **Well, there you go. I still have a long way to go before 50,000 words so don't worry. It's not even close to ending yet! I have no idea what's next but there will be a next as soon as possible!


	9. Chapter 8 I Still Need You

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, I wouldn't have to believe the rumor that the anime-fillers are ending in Spring 2007.**

**A/N: **I finished this as fast as I could. It's still good though! I've been listening to JoJo's CD, The High Road, which I downloaded, every time I write a chapter. It's very inspirational for writing. Got any good songs to listen to? Tell me! I'll listen to it and may be inspired to write more!

**Published November 23, 2006**

**Chapter 8 - I Still Need You**

"Great! Now that we got this whole thing over and done with, let's-" Kankuro started.

"Wait! We're not done yet!" Temari interjected.

"Awww…" Kankuro whined. "…how come? I thought we were done! You agreed that he wasn't worth any of this. Doesn't that mean we're done?" He continued.

"No!" Temari shouted and Gaara said lowly at the same time.

"But…" Kankuro continued to whine.

"Too bad! Now let your big sister finish!" His 'aggressive' sister ordered.

"Hmph." Kankuro crossed his arms. "Fine."

"Well now…I've thought about it more and I've come to another point." Temari stated.

"Yeah? And?" Kankuro said irritated.

Temari glared at her brother but flicked it off like she didn't notice. "I've realized that I still want Shikamaru."

"Nani (what)?!" Kankuro complained very loudly and exaggeratedly. "I thought he wasn't worth it! How can he still be 'the one'?!"

"It's probably too complicated for that tiny head of yours." Temari shrugged.

"Hmph." Kankuro pouted. "My head's not tiny!"

"You're right." Temari agreed sweetly.

"Hmph." Kankuro said happily as he nodded.

"You're head's just filled with too much hot air." Temari smirked.

"Yup…wait! Is not!" Kankuro shouted angrily.

Temari and Kankuro continued to argue and insult one another.

Once he got a little irritated, Gaara cleared his throat loudly.

Temari and Kankuro couldn't hear Gaara's sound, so they continued to shout at each other.

Gaara cleared his throat once again, but this time, even louder than before.

There was still no recognition from Temari or Kankuro.

Finally, Gaara gave up and shut Kankuro's and Temari's mouth with his sand.

Muffled sounds could be heard from Gaara's siblings.

"I'd like to give my interpretation of this chaos." Gaara stated in his low voice. The sand on his sibling's mouths was slowly dissipating.

Temari and Kankuro stayed silent, too scared to talk, and almost too scared to breathe.

"Temari seems to be having second thoughts about Shikamaru. She doesn't want to go out on a date with him anymore but she still has feelings for him. She doesn't want to give up though because if she told Shikamaru that she didn't want to go out with him anymore, he would choose Ino by default. Ino would feel like a winner and rub it in her face for a very long time. So she can't do that. But she also can't go out with Shikamaru. Even though Temari would love break another guy's heart, Shikamaru's different and _because_ he's different Temari can't tell him the truth. Shikamaru would have made a bad decision and go into an 'emo' mode in a second. Their relationship would be strained. (**A/N:** As strained as Thomas Jefferson and his mother. lol. I learned that recently.) There's no right way out of this if you think of it thoroughly. Sure, Temari could admit defeat, but she has too much pride in herself to lose to Ino. She could tell Shikamaru the truth but she's grown too close to him to change their close-knit relationship. I haven't figured out a way in which there is no negativity involved." Gaara said monotonously yet caring at the same time.

There was another long moment of silence and Temari and Kankuro were stunned, shocked, and frozen at the long speech Gaara had spoken. The most surprising thing about what Gaara said was that it was all true.

"How did you…and when did…but I…" Kankuro could not find the words to finish his sentences. He was still too shaken at Gaara's knowledge. He knew Gaara was smart, but not _this_ smart, and _definitely_ not when it came to love and relationships.

Temari was traumatized. Her shock was much greater than Kankuro's. She didn't blink. She barely breathed. She wasn't too surprised that what he said was accurate, but more shocked that he knew what she was thinking. 'My little brother knows too much. I try to keep him away from all this talk about love and affairs such as this and what do I do? I put myself in a situation like this and he has to tell me what's up from down. He said everything I was thinking. He knew everything I know.' Temari sighed. "You are too smart for your own good, you know that, Gaara?" Temari complimented as she smirked proudly.

Gaara looked puzzled at Temari. He didn't understand what Temari was saying.

Temari saw Gaara's puzzling look. "Oh, forget I said anything. Thanks for explaining everything, Gaara." She turned to Kankuro. "You get it now?"

Kankuro grinned widely and nodded. "Yup." In reality, he had no idea what Gaara had said. He just wanted to stop talking about Shikamaru.

"Good." Temari and Gaara said in unison.

-------------------------------------------------

Ino sighed loudly. "Great…I freed myself for the whole day…what am I going to do now?" Ino mumbled, as she walked lazily with her back slouched with her head down and her arms hanging weightlessly. Since she had her head down and wasn't really paying attention, she was bound to bump into someone. And of course, there was a large 'bump' sound as Ino's head knocked into a stack of books. "Oh, so-" Ino looked up.

"Oh, excu-Ino! Didn't expect _you_ around here. Watch where you're going! I almost dropped my medical books." Ino's 'best friend' shouted.

"Yeah, whatever." Ino said sadly.

"Hm?" Sakura raised an eyebrow. "What's up with you? You usually call be billboard-brow and insult me. What happened? Did Shikamaru do hurt you. Damn that teme (bastard). I'll beat his ass for you!"

"Shut up!" Ino shouted. She wanted Sakura to just shut her mouth. "Nothing happened!" Ino continued to yell. "I don't care anymore!"

"Nani (what)?" Sakura raised an eyebrow as she tilted her head. "Who have _you_ been talking to?"

"Sasuke and Neji." Ino pouted as she muttered.

"No wonder!" Sakura raised her finger the air. "Note to self: Never take advice on affection from Sasuke and/or Neji." Then she shrugged. "It's common sense. Do you see _them_ with girlfriends? Nope. Do they have raging fangirls going after them _day_ after _day_? Yup. Do they have a bad past? Mm-hmm." Sakura nodded. "Are they very 'emo'? Definitely. You see my point here?"

"Not really." Ino scrunched her face trying to comprehend Sakura.

Sakura sighed heavily. "I guess I have time to chat. I don't have to help Tsunade-sama until later anyways." Sakura walked toward a bench which coincidently happened to be right next to the two girls.

Ino followed and lazily plopped her butt on the bench. "Now what?"

"Well, first of all, forget whatever guidance you got from Sasuke and Neji. You don't need any of that. All you need is me. You can definitely trust me!" Sakura grinned. "So tell me what's up."

"Shikamaru can't choose between Temari and me, so I've come to the conclusion that he isn't the right guy for me. Am I right? He doesn't know, after all of these years, if he would like to go out on a date with me." Ino sighed. "Maybe I should just go out with Chouji or something."

"Ino Yamanaka! Don't say something like that!" Sakura disciplined loudly. Then she quickly changed into a whisper. "Chouji's great and all, but come on; everyone knows you truly love Shikamaru."

"I guess you're right, Sakura." Ino admitted sighing.

"Damn right I am!" Sakura said proudly. "Shikamaru is _the_ one. I just know it! He loves you. He just well, doesn't want to die..."

"But he has feelings for Temari. If he didn't, then he would have answered my question by now."

"That's true." Sakura admitted.

"See…I knew he didn't really love me." Ino saddened even more.

"That's not true! He loves you! His mind is just confused because of Temari. He really does love you; it's just too foggy for him to see it." Sakura tried to make Ino feel better.

"How can you not know if you love someone?!" Ino argued.

"Well, let's see." Sakura said slightly sarcastically as she put a finger on her chin. "_You_ didn't realize your feelings for him until he became a Chuunin. I think you had feelings for him _all_ along, but couldn't see them until later."

"Well maybe…but still! What's the point?! Temari will stop at nothing to beat me and take Shikamaru." Ino said with great emotion.

"Temari's got nothing on you! She doesn't have the same relationship that you and Shikamaru have." Sakura sided.

"But she's gotten pretty close. Shikamaru actually talks around her…" Ino got even more depressed than before.

"Ino! You aren't going to help yourself if you keep pointing out the negatives." Sakura shouted angrily. "There's no point in me helping you if you don't look at the positives."

"Well what's the point of pointing out positives when there are so many overpowering negatives?! I'd be hurting myself even more if I stay positive just to have my heart crushed when Shikamaru chooses Temari instead of me." Ino shouted as her eyes started to water.

"Ino…" Sakura said quietly. "If you feel that strongly, then tell Shikamaru."

"I can't!" Ino yelled as she cried. "You're so…stupid, Sakura. You…don't even…know the future…problems…if I say this to…Shikamaru." She paused to sniffle in-between her words.

"I don't see any problem." Sakura muttered.

Ino chuckled as she wiped the many tears from her eyes. "Sakura, you're as dull as ever." Her eyes were watery, but she smiled anyways. "If Shikamaru chooses Temari, they'll be all happy and it's over for me. Shikamaru would be spending a lot of time with Temari. I won't even be able to talk to him _because_ of Temari. In case you haven't noticed already, Temari doesn't like me very much. There would be many awkward situations that I really don't want to face."

"Well suck it up! Ninjas have to face many ordeals that they don't want to encounter, but they get through it somehow!" Sakura compared.

"But we're not talking about ninja business! This is _totally_ different. This is a life-long hardship…something you can't change no matter how many times you train…a challenge with no accurate solution…" Ino smirked. "…in the words of Kakashi, 'a double-edged sword'."

Sakura was silent. She didn't know what to counter that with.

"Loss of words?" Ino laughed. "Same as always, Sakura." She smiled, but was quickly reminded that she was still talking about Shikamaru. "There are more dilemmas. I could tell Shikamaru that I don't want to date him anymore but by default, Temari would beat me. I'll regret that my whole life…and she would rub it in forever. If I go out with Shikamaru and it doesn't work out…I can't see myself having the same relationship we used to have. There are too many awkward moments that will occur in the future."

"You thought of all this just now?"

"No. I was thinking before, while I was walking. I had a lot of time on my hands to think about a lot of things. All the guys I could've gone out with but rejected so I could wait for Shikamaru to read my note. I still love Shikamaru…" Ino confessed.

"I see." Sakura said.

Both girls were silent. They took in the moment to think, but only a moment. They were soon interrupted.

"Sakura-chan!" A very, annoying, familiar voice shouted as he ran to the two girls on the bench, waving his arm up in the air.

Sakura sighed heavily. "Oh, man. He found me." She covered one side of her face with one of her hands.

"Sakura-chan! I finally found you! I've been looking for you everywhere! Oh, hey Ino." The voice panted as he stood in front of Sakura and Ino.

"Great…" Sakura quickly faked a smile.

"Hey." Ino said lazily.

"Sakura, Shizune told me to give you this." Naruto took out a plain white paper, folded twice, from his pocket and gave it to Sakura.

Sakura took the paper, unfolded it, and then mumbled it. "Oh, kuso (shit)." Sakura slammed her hand on her forehead.

"What it say?" Ino asked, looking over at the paper. "I need you to come to my office at exactly 4 o'clock. Make sure you bring all of the medical books on the list. If you're late, you're going to be in big trouble. Signed, Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage.'

"I have to go, quickly. Naruto! Carry these books to Tsunade-sama's office!" Sakura ordered.

"But Saku-" Naruto said.

"I said now! Or you're dead." Sakura threatened.

"Right away, Sakura-chan!" Naruto speedily took Sakura's books and ran towards the Hokage's office.

"You better hurry up, Naruto! I better not catch up to you!" Sakura ran behind Naruto.

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**A/N: **There you have it! Another chapter! I liked adding in humor. I'm good at humor and romance together. Anyways, review!


	10. Chapter 9 I Don't Need You

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, I would have known earlier that the anime-fillers were ending in February.**

**A/N: **I liked this chapter a lot! It's very dramatic; a turnover from all that humor. It's still a tad humorous though. Seriously, it's a pretty dramatic, great chapter! It's short though.

**Published November 24, 2006**

**Chapter 9 - I Don't Need You**

"Ja ne (good-bye)." Temari said to her brothers as she left their Konoha house. By the time she was on the streets of Konoha, it was already dark, and the stars were out. (**A/N:** Actually, I don't think I've never seen stars in the sky in the anime episodes.) It was night-life. Bright neon lights were gleaming and families were eating dinner inside restaurants.

A long ten minutes later, Temari ended up at her apartment. She was living on the top floor and took the stairs, very slowly. She sighed heavily. "What's the point?" She spoke out loud to herself. "I'm just going to mope around wondering about him." Even though she didn't think it was helpful to go inside, she went in anyways. Temari, as slow as ever, slugged her way to the couch. She lied down and looked up at the ceiling.

Silence was getting to her.

"That's it! It's too damn quiet in here!" She shouted out loud in the empty room. Temari sat herself up and turned on the TV. "Boring, pointless, stupid, unrealistic, dull, not worth my time." Temari described as she flipped the channels. She sighed and turned off the TV. "Hmm…'boring, pointless, stupid, unrealistic, dull, not worth my time'…yup." Temari nodded to herself. "Shikamaru has made my life _boring_; it's _pointless_ to try and fix our relationship, I've been _stupid_ by not telling him before, Ino and me are rivals in an _unrealistic_ battle for love, I am _dull_ for not noticing a relationship that could be nothing more than friendship, and thinking about any of this is _not worth my time_." Temari related her words describing TV to her life.

"This is sad…I'm comparing TV to me." Temari talked to herself. Then she stood up and walked towards a window. She sighed again. "The stars are so bright tonight, but they aren't making me feel any better. They just remind me more of _him_."

Temari walked herself back to the couch and lazily slammed her butt down. She fell on her side and looked at the wall in front of her. She stared off into space. "What is wrong with me?" She said monotonously. She turned to look up at the ceiling again. "What am I doing?" She sat up again. "I'm supposed to be the strongest kunoichi in Suna! I can't let a _boy_ distract me from being a great ninja! Damn it, I don't need a guy to be there for me, be my side, and save me when I'm in trouble. I can stand tall. By. My. Self!" She nodded confidently. "I've done everything else by myself. I barely knew my mother, I rarely talked to my father, and I've had to take care of my brothers by myself. If I could endure all of that, I can surely go without a mere date with Shikamaru. Who cares if he's awkward after he says no to me? I'll still be the same! That's all that matters!"

"Yup." Temari said as she stood up and walked to open her fridge door. "Ahah! I knew this would come in handy." She took out a rather large store-bought bourbon cake. (**A/N:** My mom and I make bourbon cake a lot…it's delicious!) "Just what I need!" Temari looked for a clean fork, but after ten seconds of looking around she sat back down on the couch and ate her cake with her hands.

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"I'm home!" Ino announced as she opened her front house door. "Hmm? Why are all the lights off?" She asked out loud in case anyone could answer. She shrugged it off and turned on the light. "Mom? Dad?" Ino walked deeper into her house. The first room she walked into was the living room. It was empty. Her dad wasn't reading the newspaper or watching TV. Then, Ino walked into the kitchen. "Mom?" She called out, even though she could see no one was in there. She did notice a note though.

Ino picked up the plain colored paper and read it out loud. "Dear, Ino, I'm sorry your father and I are gone. Your father won free tickets for a vacation at the Moonlight Tokyo Hotel. (**A/N:** lol. That's the same hotel from my Fanfic Not a Relaxing Vacation! Just a little advertisement.) We are both very sorry we couldn't bring you along dear. We'll be gone for five days. I've prepared some food; it's in the fridge. It should last five days. If not, there's some money in the freezer you can use. Love, Mom." Ino sighed again. "I guess it's just me then."

Ino walked towards the fridge and opened it. "Yuck." She closed the fridge and opened to freezer. "Here we go!" She took the money out of the fridge and put it in her pocket. "It's too late for lunch, but too early for dinner. But I'm hungry now…" Ino sighed once again. "My parents aren't home; I might as well take advantage of that." And that's what Ino did. She picked up a spoon and went back to the fridge and opened the freezer door. She took out a carton of 'Double Fudge Brownie' ice cream (**A/N:** That's one of the ice creams I have in my freezer…along with Vanilla, Berry Rainbow sherbet, and Orange Cream sherbet.) and sat down on her sofa.

"Ice cream. Is. Good." She nodded to herself. She needed some comfort food to get Shikamaru out of her mind for a couple of minutes. "A brain freeze is just what I need." Ino said as she continued to scoop big spoonfuls of ice cream into her mouth.

"You know what? I don't need him! I'm perfectly fine without him! I've known him long enough to know that he's too lazy to change anything about himself if I do or don't become his girlfriend. I shouldn't be worrying! I try to keep myself slim just for him, and what do I get? Nothing! I'm never doing anything like that for a guy again! I could be eating ice cream everyday if I wanted to but instead I worked out everyday and barely ate a meal, just for him! Boy was I stupid!" Ino shook her head at herself. "Ice cream, you truly are my best friend!" She said which makes you wonder what exactly was in the ice cream.

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"He should be glad he has me around! I can't believe I wasted all this time trying to get a younger guy. He's not even that great. Sure he's a genius, but he's a lazy bum! Who would want someone as lazy as him for a boyfriend?!" Temari crossed her arms and pouted. "I could've gone out with hundreds of guys who asked me out. Heh, even Kiba's better than Shikamaru! At least he'd know how to treat a woman." She snorted.

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"I was so stupid! I _knew_ he wouldn't answer my question because he wouldn't read it until a year later! Why did I let myself think that he might read it sooner, who knows?! He doesn't even know how lucky he has it! I waited for him for so long! He wouldn't even be a good boyfriend! Why should I want him to be mine?! Even Naruto's better than Shikamaru! Stupid Shikamaru! He doesn't know what he's lost. At least Naruto would always be there for me." Ino snorted as she continued to eat her ice cream.

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"I even tried to change myself for that teme (bastard)! He's gotten on my nerves _so_ many times; he's lucky I liked him enough to not kill him yet! I was trying to be so nice to all of his friends! I even went so far as to meet his parents when he had to run an errand. His mother can be so annoying! She's as aggressive as me! Shikamaru should be grateful I didn't get into a fight with her. Tch…changing myself for a guy…how pathetic." Temari scowled.

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"I've known him forever! He doesn't deserve me! I could get any guy I wanted and I choose him of all people! Shikamaru should be thankful I chose him, but instead he has to decide between me and Temari! That's messed up! I've done everything I could to help him when he was feeling down. He's been getting on my nerves for years but I didn't beat him up as much as I could've! Damn feelings got in the way! I should've beaten him up when I had the chance. Tch…saving myself for him…how pitiful." Ino snarled.

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"I don't need him! I never needed him! I was happy without him! I'll be happy with whatever stupid decision he makes!" Temari pushed over a coffee table in front of her with her foot.

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"I don't need him! I haven't needed him as a boyfriend before and I won't need him now or ever! I'll survive with whatever brainless choice he makes!" Ino threw a couch-pillow at her TV.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it! It was very short, but I thought it was great!


	11. Chapter 10 The Mother of All Reinforceme

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, I would already have a Naruto headband but instead I have to wait till Christmas!**

**A/N: **This chapter is thanks to Beautihul Miko! Thanks for giving me the idea! Another short but good chapter!

**Published November 25, 2006**

**Chapter 10 - The Mother of All Reinforcements**

"You're late for dinner! Were you watching the clouds again?!" A concerned mother shouted.

"No, mom." A lazy Chuunin answered.

_Yes, Shikamaru Nara still lived with his parents. Actually a lot of ninja still lived with their parents. (**A/N:** I really don't know if that's true. I'm just making this part up.) Ino, as you know, lives with her parents, Sakura lives with her parents, Neji and Hinata still live in the Hyuuga mansion, Kiba still lives with his mom and sister (I'm not sure if he has a dad.), and Naruto would live with his parents if he had them._

"The Hokage kept me late to finish some paperwork." Shikamaru answered.

"That's what you said _last_ week and the week before _that_!" Shikamaru's mother retorted.

"But it's true!" Shikamaru whined.

"Well it doesn't matter anyways. Your father's out again. I made a nice dinner for the two of you and you don't even show up on time!" Shikamaru's mom really knew how to put some guilt into Shikamaru.

Shikamaru sighed. "Sorry, mother." He forced himself to say making him sound like a child. "I think I'm gonna skip dinner. It's too troublesome to eat." Shikamaru was about to take a step up to his room on the stairs, but his mom put her arm out in front of him and stopped him.

"What's wrong?" Shikamaru's mom asked, being the butting-in type of mother.

"Nothing." Shikamaru answered lazily.

"It's not 'nothing'. Even though you inherited the lazy trait from your father, you still eat. _Something_ is bothering you…more than the usual that is." Yoshino (**A/N:** That's Shikamaru's mom's name.) indicated.

Shikamaru sighed. "Okay…I'll eat…" He said, admitting his defeat to his mother.

"Good." Yoshino smiled. "We can talk about your problem while you eat."

"Great." Shikamaru said sarcastically.

The mother and son walked to the dining room table.

"Here you go." Yoshino put a plate of food in front of Shikamaru. (**A/N:** Use your imagination because I can't!)

Shikamaru took a couple bites of his food.

"So, what's wrong, honey?" Yoshino asked nicely.

"Nothing." Shikamaru answered as he chewed some meat.

"Shikamaru!" Yoshino raised her voice. "I asked nicely; now answer me!"

"It's too troublesome." Shikamaru responded.

"More troublesome to talk about than me?" Yoshino pointed to herself with her hand.

"Yup." Shikamaru said with his eyes closed, chewing some more food.

"Girls?" Yoshino guessed.

"Yup." Shikamaru answered plainly.

"Well why didn't you tell me before?! I can help you out with girls!" Yoshino grinned.

"Too…" He put some more food in his mouth. "…troublesome."

"Tch. You have to talk about girls sometime. So who's the lucky girl?" Yoshino asked ecstatically. 'I'm so happy my little boy finally found a girl!'

"Actually…" Shikamaru started, continuing to eat his food. "…it's two girls." He admitted.

"Two girls! Oh, I'm so happy for you! So, who are they?" Yoshino asked, still excited.

Shikamaru took a big spoonful of his dinner and stuffed it in his mouth. "I-o n em-a-r." Shikamaru mumbled with his food still in his mouth. He was supposedly saying 'Ino and Temari'.

"What? Don't speak with your mouth full!" Yoshino ordered.

Shikamaru gulped down his food and sighed. "It's I-"

"I'm home!" A voice cheered as he walked towards the dining room.

"Hey." Shikamaru greeted lazily.

"Were you out drinking again?!" Yoshino stood up and shouted at her husband.

"No, no! I was out on a quick mission." Shikaku (**A/N:** That's Shikamaru's dad's name if you didn't know.) explained.

"Better be…or you'd be in deep trouble." Yoshino muttered under her breath.

"So…" Shikaku tried to get the subject off of himself. "…why are _you_ eating so late, Shikamaru." He looked at his son.

Shikamaru glared at Shikaku lazily, but went back to eating. "Tsunade-sama had me stay late."

"Oh…" Shikaku sighed disappointingly. He thought Shikamaru would have more to say.

"And…" Yoshino wanted Shikamaru to tell Shikaku about his 'problem'.

Shikamaru sighed. 'There's no getting out of this troublesome situation…' "I have a girl problem."

"Oh, looks like you're growing up! So who's the lucky girl?" Shikaku grinned.

"_Two_ girls." Yoshino added.

"Two…a lady's man! Just like your father!" Shikaku grinned again.

Yoshino bonked Shikaku's head with her fist. "You weren't a lady's man and you better not _be_ a lady's man!"

"Yes, dear." Shikaku agreed. "So, Shikamaru, who are the two lucky ladies?"

Shikamaru sighed again. 'Troublesome.' He thought. "Ino and Temari." He confessed lowly.

Shikaku's head tilted as one of his eyes twitched. "Y-You mean…the Kazekage's sister and Inoichi's daughter?

Shikamaru nodded.

Shikaku's head tilted even more and his eye continued to twitch. "I think I'm going to skip dinner. I just lost my appetite." He walked upstairs to his bedroom, closed the door, and locked it. Then he curled up in a corner and rocked back and forth with his arms around his bent legs. "They have their good points, they have their good points, they're not all bad, they're not all bad,

"Umm…okay." Yoshino responded. She didn't understand how Shikaku could lose his appetite but she didn't really care. 'His loss.' She looked back at Shikamaru. "So…Ino and Temari. Pretty and blonde. What made you pick them?"

"I didn't. They picked me." Shikamaru corrected.

"Ooh…did they have a girl-fight yet?" Yoshino raised her eyebrows.

"Kind of." Shikamaru raised his eyebrow. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just an obvious question to ask." Yoshino smiled. "So, you like them both?"

"I don't know." Shikamaru answered truthfully as he put a big spoonful of food into his mouth.

"When did you find out they liked you?"

"Last week."

"At the same time?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm…"

"Hmm…?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"You either like them equally or don't want to see one of them get hurt." Yoshino assumed.

"I guess."

"So which one is it?" Yoshino asked.

"I don't know." Shikamaru bluntly answered.

"Ahh…both." Yoshino supposed.

'She's going to continue asking me questions.' Shikamaru sighed. "I don't know what to do. Do you care who I choose?" He asked.

"Yes and no."

Shikamaru raised his eyebrow again. 'Women, they're so confusing.'

"I care that you choose someone who will love you, care for you, and whip you when it's needed." She grinned at the last characteristic. "But I know both of them can do that. So I don't care."

Shikamaru sighed. "_That_ doesn't help." He muttered.

"Here's some advice." Yoshino pointed her finger in the air. "Don't ask your father for advice."

Shikamaru nodded.

"So why didn't you tell me about this problem before?" Yoshino asked, insulted that Shikamaru didn't tell her right after he found out.

"I didn't think I'd need your help." Shikamaru honestly spoke. "But I guess I was wrong."

"Good answer." Yoshino smiled. "Well, I hope you can make a good decision. But you know, it's going to be okay either way."

"Huh?" Shikamaru said dumbfounded.

"If Ino and Temari are equal in your eyes, then it won't matter who you choose. The winner will have the same reaction and the loser will have the same reaction. The results are the same either way so don't stress about it." Yoshino advised. "I like both girls. I know they'll be good to you, _even_ when you don't choose one of them.

"Thanks, mom." Shikamaru smirked. "I still don't know what to do, but thanks."

"No, problem, honey. Now finish up you food so I can finish the dishes." Yoshino smiled.

"Hai, hai (yeah, yeah)." Shikamaru said lazily.

"Only one hai (yes)!" Yoshino disciplined.

"Hai (yes), mom."

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**A/N: **I thought this chapter was very kawaii! I hope you enjoyed it. I liked writing it. I had to add Shikaku in here! I love his reaction to Shikamaru's 'Ino and Temari' answer.


	12. Chapter 11 Messing With Other People's B

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, I would have all of the anime episodes downloaded so I could make better YouTube AMVs.**

**A/N: **Another chapter! Woohoo! I'm cutting it really close to the deadline and still have a lot more words to go. This was a fun chapter, well, not as fun as chapter 10, but still fun.

**Published November 27, 2006**

**Chapter 11 - Messing With Other People's Business**

Temari sighed in frustration. "Ugh! I have to do _something_! I can't just let this go!" She fiercely stood up straight from the couch. "Damn it! What the hell am I going to do?!" She put her hands on her head.

'TV…TV can solve everything.' She remembered. She took the remote and turned on her television set.

"_Today on Tyra…" The TV started. _(**A/N:** It was the second thing that popped up in my head)****_"…how to suppress your anger like writing a letter to yourself and beating it out in the gym."_

"Psh. Whatever." Temari turned off her TV and stared at the blank screen. "Maybe I should tell Ino…hmm…nah." Temari decided. "Well…maybe…eh…" She sighed heavily. "Okay." She made up her mind. Temari stood up and went to her bedroom where there, in a corner, stood a small desk. This was Temari's 'I'm going to write a letter because Gaara made me or I have nothing better to do' desk.

"Yup, just what I need…" Temari sighed as she sat down. "Acting like the dowdy older sister…" She concluded. "…writing my day away."

So Temari wrote a letter. A pretty brief, but pleasant letter; a 'short, but sweet' letter. 'Ino will talk with me. We can chit-chat and get this whole feud over with. Then, maybe, I'll be able to get rid of my head aching frustration.'

"Hmm…when should I give this to her?" Temari asked herself. "I'm busy tomorrow…" She shrugged. "…I guess as soon as possible." She nodded. "The day after tomorrow it is."

"Now that _that's_ over and done with, I can go out my everyday life! I have to train and kick Kankuro's ass! I can't let my little brother upstage me!" Temari competitively said. She left her apartment and quickly ran, not being seen by anyone, to the Sabaku no house to train in the backyard.

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"Ahh!" Ino stretched her arms up in the air. "Who said sleeping on the sofa was uncomfortable? I slept like a baby!" She spoke to herself.

Ino looked at her analog clock hanging from the wall. "Only 7:30? I must be using my alarm clock so much that I wake up on cue." She yawned. "Oh well. I guess I'll get up now." So Ino stood up, stretched again, and walked towards the bathroom. She took a quick pee and brushed her teeth. "Hmm…shower or no shower?" Ino smelled her armpits. "Shower." She nodded as she turned the hot water knob. Ino took a rather long shower; it lasted a little more than half-an-hour.

Once Ino was done washing up in the bathroom, she walked downstairs to eat some breakfast. "Hmm…let's see." She said as she looked inside her pantry. "Nutrigrain bar or Kashi bar?" She asked herself, tapping her chin with her index finger. "Eh, I might as well eat a bagel. Who am I going to look good for anyways?" She shrugged.

So Ino took out a cinnamon raison bagel and sat down on the kitchen counter. After taking one bite of her bagel, she thought. "Hmm…I can eat cream cheese!" Ino spoke out loud. She skipped to her fridge and took out a carton of cream cheese. "I stopped eating cream cheese for…a boy?!" She laughed out loud to herself.

Suddenly, there was a click at the door.

"Mail? This early?" She tilted her head as she jumped off of the countertop. Ino peeped her head out to see the front door. "Mail…" She shrugged. "…cool." Ino bit her bagel widely and kept it in her mouth, with more than half of it sticking out, to pick up a letter sealed in a white envelope, addressed to Yamanaka Ino.

Ino walked to her sofa and jumped down. She turned on the TV, watched a rerun of Oprah (**A/N:** It was the first pop-up in my head.), and continued to eat her bagel.

"Today on Oprah…" The TV sounded. "…How to keep your man by your side and ways to find out if things are _working_ out."

"Just what I need." Ino said sarcastically, taking a big bite of her bagel. "A-ot-er e-i-ode a-out ove an aw wat ap." Ino garbled, trying to say 'Another episode about love and all that crap.' She turned off the TV and finished the last bites of her bagel.

"Now, let's see what this letter's all about." There was no return address or postage stamp. Ino shrugged. She ripped the envelope into shreds until there was nothing left in front of her other than scraps and a plain white piece of paper.

_**Dear Ino,**_

**_I need to talk to you. Come meet me at the corner of Conch and Coral _**(**A/N: **That was from Spongebob! Free cookies if you knew that!)_ **at exactly 9 o'clock. I know you probably won't want to come, but I have something important to tell you. I won't be surprised if you don't come. I will be surprised if you don't come after I tell you that it's about Shikamaru. So you better come.**_

**- Sabaku no Temari**

'Temari has her own stamp?' Ino thought as she saw Temari's name at the bottom surrounded by a design of stamp markings. 'I didn't know she wrote that many letters. Well I guess being the Kazekage's daughter can give you a lot of mail to reply to.' Ino thought.

'Maybe I should go.' She thought. '_You have nothing better to do._' Her inner-self said. 'That's true.' Ino agreed.

_9:00 A.M._

Ino arrived right on time as she always did and always would. 'Damn it, this better not be some kind of joke.' She thought to herself. She saw a bench nearby so she decided she might as well sit down while she waits.

"Ino! Ino! Over here!" A voice called out.

"Huh?" Ino looked around. She did not see Temari anywhere in sight. "Temari?" She asked out.

"Over here!" The voice called out again.

Ino still did not see Temari anywhere. She lifted her arms and put her hands on her hip. "Temari! This better not be some kind of joke!" Ino threatened. 'If _this_ is a joke, for sure, she's dead! Nobody makes a fool out of Ino Yamanaka.'

"Ino." A body overshadowed Ino.

Ino gasped. "G-G-Gaara?" 'Damn, I didn't know he was _this_ tall! Am I getting shorter or what?'

Actually, Gaara had grown taller, but he still wasn't taller than Ino. His sand from his gourd was stirring around in the background, generating a large shadow, which Ino thought was Gaara's body. Gaara had some sand under his feet, as well, to create a more dramatic effect to his presence.

"Ino Yamanaka?" Gaara asked monotonously, making sure he had the right girl.

"Uhh…yes?" Ino said, not sure if Gaara was asking a question or stating her name.

"I'm here to tal-" Gaara started.

"Gaara! We were supposed to do this secretly!" Kankuro popped up from behind a bush. "Hey, Ino." Kankuro waved quickly but turned back to Gaara. "This is not what I planned!"

"I thought your plan was stupid." Gaara stated bluntly.

"It wasn't stupid! It was dramatic!" Kankuro shouted at his younger brother.

"You're stupid. Go play with your puppets or something. _I'll_ deal with Ino." Gaara commanded.

"But Gaara! I want to help too!" Kankuro whined like a baby.

Gaara's sand started to encircle Kankuro.

"Well, see you at home, Gaara!" Kankuro said quickly before he turned around and ran at a lightning speed back to his Konoha home.

"So, Ino Yamanaka. I remember you." Gaara declared.

Ino started to sweat. 'Damn it. I should've stayed home today.' She thought. 'I should've known Temari wouldn't write a letter like that. 'I need to talk to you.' Oh how I easily fell for that one.'

"Do you know why I'm here?" Gaara asked.

"Umm…not really." Ino said nervously.

"Temari is my sister." Gaara stated.

Ino nodded. 'I know that! I'm not stupid.'

"I may be her younger brother but I will protect her no matter what." Gaara confirmed.

'Wow. I didn't know Gaara was so…brotherly.' Ino thought. She nodded.

"I know _you_ won't hurt her. But I think _Shikamaru_ will hurt her."

"Then why are you talking to me? Shouldn't you speak with Shikamaru?" Ino asked.

"No." Gaara sat down next to Ino, but didn't look at her. "That's not what I mean. I _know_ Shikamaru won't choose Temari."

"W-What?" Ino was shocked and her heart almost stopped. "H-How can you say that? Don't you think your sister has a chance?"

"No." Gaara answered plainly. "She doesn't."

'How could someone be so cold? I thought he changed?' Ino thought in her head.

"It's best if you date Shikamaru." Gaara spoke.

"But, why?" Ino asked confused about everything Gaara had said.

"Temari wants Shikamaru. She'll do anything to get him away from you. She doesn't like you." Gaara stated.

"I know _that_. I'm not stupid." Ino muttered with her arms crossed. 'Why does everyone assume that I'm the stereotypical dumb blonde?'

"Hn." Gaara heard Ino. "I know you're not stupid. I am just stating my reason is all." Gaara clarified. "Temari's been very…distracted lately due to this Shikamaru problem. It's interfering with her training. She lost to Kankuro a couple days ago."

"That bad?" Ino looked almost worried. 'That's pretty sad.' (**A/N:** Gomen (sorry) if you're a big Kankuro fan. I love Kankuro too! But it's so easy to make fun of him!)

Gaara nodded. "If she is like this _without_ Shikamaru, I do not want to have to see her _with_ Shikamaru. It may be more chaotic and distracting." He explained.

"But what do you want _me_ to do about it?" Ino asked, still a little confused about this whole situation she was in.

"Shikamaru is having a hard time choosing a girl. I think you need to persuade him to you rather than Temari." Gaara insisted. "It would be best…for everyone." He added. "You may have already been trying to do that, but this time, you have a greater goal at hand. You have to convince Shikamaru or else…all is lost."

'All is lost? What the heck is that supposed to mean?! Does he have to be so dramatic about all of this?!' Ino nodded as she sighed. "Okay." 'But I don't _like_ Shikamaru that way anymore! Temari can handle him! Why can't Gaara see this?!'

"Good. I am glad you see it _my_ way." Gaara responded as he stood up.

"Heh, yeah." Ino said nervously, trying to act as casual to Gaara as possible. "So, the letter that I got to come here, wasn't Temari, but you and Kankuro?"

"No. It was Temari." Gaara stated honestly without hesitation. "She wants to meet with you. Kankuro and I took it out of her stationary, at her apartment, while she was out. It gave Kankuro the idea to meet with you, so we copied the writing word for word and even used her personal stamp. So you will be getting a letter sometime tomorrow to meet with her."

"_Oh_." Ino said surprised. "Well, okay. I guess I'll see you later?" Ino said politely. 'I hope not.'

"Hn. Whatever." Gaara said rudely without knowing it.

"Yeah. Well, bye!" Ino waved as she walked in the opposite direction back to her house. 'Well this has to be oddest morning I've ever had.' She thought to herself. '_You have got that right_!' Her inner-self agreed fully.

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One day later…

"Well, it had to come sometime." Ino said slightly disappointedly as she walked towards the door where a small envelope lay. She picked it up and walked back to the sofa just as she did the day before.

"Is this déjà vu or is it just me?" Ino asked herself, sarcastically, out loud. 'It says the same thing. Why should I even open it?"' Ino asked herself in her head. "Hmmm…" 'Maybe it says something different, or at least slightly different. Maybe Gaara was lying about copying Temari's letter and just wrote a totally different letter. Am I asking too many questions to myself?' She asked herself. '_Yes, you are._' Her inner-self answered. 'Just making sure.' She responded to her inner-self.

'_Just open it! You might as well! Or else you'll regret it for a really long time and you don't want to do that now, do you?_" Her inner-self spoke once again. 'No, I guess you're right. I'm not a lazy-ass like Shikamaru.' Ino agreed. She ripped open her letter just as she did the day before.

"Here we go." Ino unfolded a light lavender colored paper. She read over it. "Speh, speh, speh, speh…" She mumbled as she skimmed over the writing. 'Same thing.' She was slightly disappointed but not too surprised. 'Gaara wouldn't lie. He has no reason to.'

"I guess I should leave now." Ino said. She walked out of her house and back to Konoha Park…back to remembering yesterday. _"You have to convince Shikamaru or else…all is lost…convince Shikamaru or else…all is lost….or else…all is lost…all is lost…all is lost…"_ Ino's mind repeated and overlapped over and over as she remembered Gaara's words precisely.

"Ino…" A voice oh-so familiar called out as a figure walked towards Ino. "…you came?" Temari asked rhetorically.

"Well, yeah, or else I wouldn't be here right now." Ino answered a little rudely.

Temari crossed her arms. "I was being rhetorical." Temari muttered.

"No, really? I hadn't noticed." Ino said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Both girls giggled a little.

"I thought this would be _much_ more awkward." Temari sighed thankfully.

Ino giggled again. "Heh, yeah. Well, I kind of thought this would be coming."

"Huh?" Temari raised an eyebrow.

Ino waved her hand in front of herself and I swear you could see an anime water drop on the back of her head. "Oh, nothing. Uhh…so, yeah, what did you want to talk about? Something about Shikamaru, right?" She tried ever-so hard to change the subject.

"Oh, yeah. About that…well, I don't really know how to say this but…" Temari breathed in and out slowly and deeply. "…I _don't_ want Shikamaru anymore."

Ino gasped as loud and dramatically as possible. It's like she had just seen a drunk ghost standing on top of a bar counter singing karaoke with Kiba, Naruto, _and_ Rock Lee. "**NANI **(WHAT)?!" Ino was as shocked as ever. 'Are we like twins or something?! I thought she liked him! She suddenly says she doesn't right after I decide that I don't like him!'

"Umm…Ino?" Temari tried to get her attention. "Hello! Earth to Ino!" She waved her hand in Ino's face.

Ino shut her eyes tightly and shook her head. "Oh, yeah."

"What happened? You just blanked out on me." Temari asked.

"I'm just a little…surprised. That's all." Ino smiled. "I just didn't expect you to say _that_." 'Yeah, definitely didn't expect _that_. Yesterday, Gaara said Temari liked Shikamaru…a lot. And today it's all opposite? What the heck happened?!"

"Well…I guess you're happy now, right?" Temari said with a small, barely noticeable, frown.

Ino looked down at her feet and the ground. "Actually…I'm not."

Temari looked dumbfounded at Ino.

Ino smirked, though Temari couldn't tell. "You would _think_ I would be cheering and laughing my ass off and laughing at _you_ even more. I would think that too." She chuckled and smirked even more. "But, you see, that's not true." She looked up at Temari. "I thought about what we said to each other but more _importantly_, I thought about my relationship with Shikamaru. I came to a realization that…" She laughed as she said her next words. "I don't like Shikamaru that way either."

"**NANI **(WHAT)?! Are you serious?!" Temari asked. 'Is she playing a joke on me or something? Maybe we really _are_ two of a kind.'

"Totally serious." Ino said truthfully.

"But…" Temari started but not finishing her sentences. She was not able to think about what to say next.

"Yup…" Ino already answered.

"How did…" Temari slurred.

"I know." Ino agreed to whatever Temari was going to say.

"So you…" Temari said casually.

"Exactly."

"And he…" Temari said in her normal voice.

"Uh-huh."

"That's means that…" Temari's eyes started to widen.

"Sad, but true." Ino shook her head.

"Oh, shit." Temari said.

-------------------------------------------------

"We should've sat down before." Ino told Temari.

"Definitely." Temari nodded in agreement.

"So, I guess we really _are_ alike." Ino pointed out.

"More than we'll ever know." Temari added.

"You know, we could've been good friends." Ino thought about it.

"_Could've_ been? We can be good friends right now!" Temari corrected.

"Heh, you're right. I mean, we were fighting for what, a guy?" Ino sided.

"I know. And it was Shikamaru of all guys!" Temari chuckled.

Ino giggled as well. "Yeah. I could've gone out with Naruto!" She continued to laugh.

"And _I_ could've gone out with Kiba!" Temari also continued to laugh.

Ino stopped laughing once she noticed something. "Oh my Kami, I could've gone out with Sasuke!"

Temari stopped laughing as well once she heard Ino. "A-And…Oh my Kami! I could've gone out with Neji!"

"We could have dated the two hottest guys in Konoha. (**A/N:** I don't like Sasuke, but you do have to agree, he is pretty hot.)

"Well, _that's_ a bummer!" Ino pouted as she slugged her back on the bench.

"Yeah…there are so many guys we could have dated. Oh my Kami! I just realized the saddest part is…sadder than waiting for Shikamaru…even sadder than not dating Sasuke and Neji…but…we're still…" Temari frowned.

"…virgins…" Both girls said as softly as they could. They didn't want anyone passing by to hear their secret.

"Awww, man! That sucks!" Ino whined.

"More for me than you! You're still young; you're only 16. I'm 19. I'm a whole three years older than you, yet we have the same amount of experience…zippo." Temari made an 'O' shape with her right hand. (**A/N:** Okay, so being a virgin at that age isn't a big deal to a normal person, but for a ninja, let's just say it is…you know, I've said it before, with all the 'you could die on a mission any day' kind of thing. You get the picture.)

"True." Ino agreed almost rudely.

"You're not supposed to say that! You're supposed to say…" Temari couldn't think of something Ino should say in place of that. "…well, something else!"

"I'm just speaking honestly!" Ino retorted.

"Ugh!"

"Ugh!"

Temari frowned. "We have sad lives."

"That's definitely true!" Ino nodded.

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"Well, I guess I'll…see you later?" Ino unsurely said.

"Umm…yes? I guess." Temari shrugged. "Whatever. Sayonara!"

"Sayonara, Temari!"

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**A/N: **There's going to be a part two to this, so watch for it! I hope I can finish the 50,000 words by Thursday, though I highly doubt it. Hopefully I don't get too much homework or I can copy off someone else!


	13. Chapter 12 Messing With Other People's B

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, I wouldn't have to do my homework in school! I wouldn't even have homework!**

**A/N: **This is another kind of filler and has almost nothing to do with the main plot. I just needed something to put in this chapter to fill up the 50,000 words. It's still good though! But there's Kiba/Hina in it, so if you don't like that couple, don't read any of the parts with Hinata or Kiba in it. If you really don't feel like reading the not so important stuff, read the last paragraph thingy.

**Published November 29, 2006**

**Chapter 12 - Messing With Other People's Business Pt. 2**

_On that same day Ino and Temari had their talk…_

"I don't think this is going to work, Gaara!" A whispering Kankuro unhelpfully said.

"Well, no one said you had to come." Gaara responded.

"But I didn't want to be home…alone…with no…food." Kankuro shivered.

"Hn." Gaara said annoyed. "Then shut up."

"You can't tell your big brother to shut up!" Kankuro continued to whisper…loudly.

Sand could be heard from behind Kankuro, stirring and rattling, waiting for Kankuro's blood. (**A/N:** Okay, that was a little too descriptive and kind of creepy.)

"Shutting up, Gaara!" Kankuro saluted with his hand.

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"Hurry up! They might already be here!" Kiba whispered as loud as possible.

"K-Kiba-kun, I don't think this is such a good idea." Hinata opinionated her, well, opinion.

"Don't worry, Hinata! I know what I'm doing." Kiba grinned as he pointed to himself with his thumb.

"If you say so, Kiba-kun." Hinata nodded slightly.

"Kiba! Hinata!" A pink haired girl (the only pink haired girl in all of Konoha) waved her hands up wide in the air. "Ow!" Sakura whined.

Tenten had just knocked Sakura on the back of her head. "That's what you get for being stupid! No wonder Ino doesn't feel bad when she calls you billboard brow!" Tenten loudly whispered.

"Well, sorry! I was just trying to get their attention!" Sakura whispered.

"_Sure_ you were." Tenten sarcastically said as she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms loosely.

"Ugh. Whatever." Sakura also rolled her eyes. Then she turned to Kiba and Hinata. "Kiba, Hinata, what are you two doing here." Sakura asked, a bush away from Kiba and Hinata. "Ow!" Sakura yelped again.

Tenten knocked the back of Sakura's head again. "_You_ know why they're here! They're here for the same reason we are!"

"When did _you_ become so violent!" Sakura whispered.

"What do you mean by that?! Are you saying I'm weak!" Tenten took it as an offence.

"No, no. Nothing like that." Sakura said as she waved her hands frantically in front of her.

Tenten quit her anger. "Good."

"Though you have to admit, I _am_ much stronger than you." Sakura smirked with her eyes closed and arms crossed.

"Oh, that's it now Haruno!" Tenten gestured her hand into a fist. "You went too far!"

"Oh kuso (shit)!" Sakura said right before Tenten pounced on her.

Kiba and Hinata sighed in unison.

"I thought _I_ was over reactive." Kiba continued to whisper.

"Me too…" Hinata said normally because if she whispered, you wouldn't be able to hear her.

Kiba glared at Hinata for a second but only a second. 'That was an insult, right?' He thought. 'Whatever.' How could Kiba stay mad at the girl he's loved since forever.

Hinata noticed his glare. "No offence, Kiba." Hinata blushed.

"Of course not." Kiba assured.

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Neji hit his hand on his forehead. "Oh no. They're there too!" He informed Sasuke with his Byakugan.

"Oh kuso (shit)!" Sasuke swore. "Now we'll be stuck with all those idiots and get caught!"

"Hey! Hinata-sama's there too!" Neji took as an insult to his cousin.

"You didn't let me finish…we'll be stuck with all those idiots, except for Hinata, and get caught!" Sasuke corrected.

Neji nodded like he was possessed; he was half listening. "Chikushou (damn/shit)." He said in a low, almost whisper like, tone.

"D-D-Did you just swear?!" Sasuke looked shocked as he stepped back away from Neji. "W-What did you see?" Sasuke was almost too afraid to find out the answer.

Neji didn't say anything. His face changed. He had an 'I'm going to kill you' look right now. Imagine Gaara's facial expression on Neji's face. Then he spoke. "Kiba's dead."

"Oh no." Sasuke said right before Neji shot off to the park like a bullet. 'Would dogs be allowed at Kiba's funeral?' He thought. 'I guess I'll find out soon.' Sasuke ran in the same direction as Neji and tried to catch up with him.

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"Maybe we should get out of the way." Kiba suggested to Hinata as he watched Sakura and Tenten fight with each other.

"I think you're right, Kiba-kun." Hinata agreed.

Sakura and Tenten had been wrestling and didn't notice that they were also moving away from their spot behind the bush. Soon, they were only a few inches away from Hinata and Kiba. Then, the worst possible thing happened.

As Kiba was standing up and helping Hinata up, Tenten and Sakura pushed Kiba as they wrestled, causing him to fall on top of Hinata, where Kiba's lips touched Hinata's.

Tenten and Sakura noticed what happened and stopped wrestling. They were frozen. Dead silence was all that was left.

"What. Did." Sakura ended the silence.

"We. Do?" Tenten finished.

As quick as a second, Kiba pushed himself back up as Hinata pushed Kiba off. Hinata blushed the brightest shade of red she's never blushed before.

"Oh kuso, kuso, kuso (shit, shit, shit)." Kiba put his hand on his head like he had a fever. "Neji's gonna kill me!"

"How's he going to do that? He didn't see you." Sakura asked.

"Neji can see…everything…at the worst of times…like this." Kiba frowned in sadness. "I'm a dead man."

Tenten's head hung low as she spoke. "It's true."

Kiba was as miserable as ever. He curled up into a ball with his arms around his legs and rocked himself back and forth. "Why don't you think I've asked Hinata out yet?" Kiba asked Sakura and Tenten as he swayed back and forth.

Tenten and Sakura were silent. 'Oh…now I see…' Both girls thought in their head.

"Exactly. Neji is too overprotective of Hinata. If I even hugged her, I would get a personal beating from him. Haven't you ever wondered why all of Team 8 wears jackets? (**A/N:** I have! I just noticed that they all wear jackets when I saw episode 206. That's kind of sad to admit.)"

"Why _do_ you guys wear jackets all the time?" Sakura asked.

"I thought it was because Shino's skin would burn quickly, you were too embarrassed to show your flat body, and Hinata was always cold." Tenten said openly and honestly.

"No, and I don't have a flat body!" Kiba retorted. "It's because Neji did not want us flirting with Hinata in any way. He also didn't want anyone to see Hinata and make remarks about her body or anything. I wouldn't ever be caught dead in a jacket if it weren't for Neji and his threat to forbid Hinata from entering the Academy and becoming genin."

"That makes sense." Sakura whispered to Tenten.

Tenten nodded. "Too bad it's all true. Now Neji should be coming any minute."

"I heard that." Kiba said. Then he sighed. "I just hope he does it quickly. I don't want a slow and painful death…"

"Oh, Neji's not _that_ cold hearted! He'd probably just beat you to a pulp. Not enough to kill you! He'd just make you suffer for the rest of your life is all." Tenten tried to make Kiba feel better but it only made everything worse.

"Oh, man. She's right. My life is going to be a living hell!" Kiba buried his face into his hands.

"KIBA INUZUKA!" Neji yelled from only a few kilometers away.

"You better start running, Kiba!" Sasuke warned, a few kilometers behind Neji.

"Aww, man. This sucks!" Kiba buried his face even more into his hands.

Neji appeared right in front of Kiba, looking down at him. "You." Neji glared rudely. "What were you doing with Hinata-sama?" He asked even thought he knew what had happened.

"It was an accident, Neji!" Sakura insisted as Sasuke came jumping down next to Neji.

"What happened?!" Sasuke said clueless of the incident.

"It really was an accident, Neji!" Tenten sided, hoping Neji would believe her. "It was my fault." She took the blame.

"It was my fault too. We were fighting. It was all an accident." Sakura took some of the blame.

"We accidentally pushed Kiba down and his lips happened to touch Hinata's!" Tenten informed.

Sasuke's face turned a dark shade of blue. 'So that's what Neji swore for. I knew he had a good reason.'

"Accident or not, Kiba is still dead." Neji said.

"No!" Hinata shouted but it sounded like a normal volume for everyone else.

Everyone stared at Hinata.

"Neji! Don't do that! If you do, I'm telling Father!" Hinata threatened, still shouting.

Neji continued to glare at Kiba.

Kiba looked up and saw Neji's evil, deadly glare. Then he looked back down in fear.

Neji chuckled. "I can't believe you want to date _him_." He smirked. "You're a lucky one, Kiba. Be thankful Hinata-sama likes you so much. Any other guy would've been dead by now."

Kiba only nodded. What could he say? He was speechless.

"I'll allow you to go out with Kiba, Hinata-sama." His words shocked everyone around him.

"R-Really?" Hinata wasn't sure if Neji was telling the truth or playing a cruel trick on her.

"Yes…but, Kiba has to talk to Hiashi-sama." Neji conditioned.

Hinata nodded slightly.

"Now get up, Kiba! You are very cowardly; you're almost as cowardly as Shikamaru." Neji offered his arm out to Kiba.

Kiba took Neji's arm and stood up. "Thanks, Neji." He scratched the back of his head. "For a minute there, I thought I was really dead."

"You'll be dead if you hurt Hinata-sama in any way…at all." Neji said seriously.

Kiba chuckled nervously. "Heh, of course."

"Hey, I think I see Temari." Sasuke got everyone's attention.

"Get down!" Sakura dropped down. Everyone else followed suit. "There she is!" Sakura whispered to everyone.

"Do you think she can see us?" Tenten asked everyone quietly.

"I doubt it." Neji answered. "She seems too distracted to figure out we're here."

"True." Sasuke agreed.

"I just saw someone we know." Neji informed. "No, two people we know."

"Who?" Sakura asked.

"Gaara and Kankuro." Neji confirmed.

"Whoa…where?" Kiba asked.

"Over there, directly across from us in the other bush." Neji pointed at the bush across the pathway.

"What a coincidence." Sakura said.

Everyone other than Sakura nodded.

-------------------------------------------------

Kankuro gasped slightly. "I see Temari coming."

"Duh." Gaara said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. It kind of was. "I felt her presence half an hour ago.

Kankuro pouted as he crossed his arms. "I was just letting you know." He muttered.

"Hn." Gaara said. Once again, sand could be heard behind Kankuro.

"Shutting up, again." Kankuro sweated.

"I guess since you _just_ saw Temari, you didn't notice there were people in the bushes across from us." Gaara assumed.

"There are other people in the bushes?! Who?" Kankuro asked, idiotically.

Gaara sighed as he looked closely at the people across from him. "There's Sakura, Hinata, Kiba, Neji, Tenten, and Sasuke."

"Wow." Kankuro was fascinated like a child's first time in a toy store. "What a coincidence, huh? Why do you think they're here?"

"Same reason we are." Gaara said obviously.

"How do you know?" Kankuro wanted proof.

"Why else would they be behind bushes in Konoha Park at the exact time Temari is supposed to be meeting with Ino?" Gaara asked.

"Oh…now I get it." Again, Kankuro really didn't get it, but wanted Gaara to stop thinking he had an older brother who was annoying and stupid.

-------------------------------------------------

"Here comes Ino." Sakura whispered.

"Oh, no. They're talking too far away! I can't hear a thing!" Tenten complained.

"I can hear perfectly fine." Kiba said.

"Well, I'm not part dog, Kiba!" Tenten snapped back.

"I'm not part dog! I can just tell you what they're saying…or you can take a chance and move closer, revealing yourself to Ino and Temari, and then they can interrogate you until you crack." Kiba persuaded.

"Fine. But make sure you get every single word they say!" Tenten crossed her arms.

"Yeah, yeah." Kiba said lazily.

-------------------------------------------------

_An hour or two later…_

"I would hate it if Ino came over to our house." Kankuro said. "One of them can do a lot of damage, but two, that's just asking for trouble. They could trash the entire house in mere seconds."

"Hn." Gaara responded.

"That's all you have to say? Were you even listening? Didn't you find anything they said interesting at all?" Kankuro asked.

"I already knew everything they said." Gaara answered monotonously.

"How did? But how? When? If you?" Kankuro asked many incomplete sentences at once, speaking gibberish.

"I just know these things." Gaara said obvious and plainly.

-------------------------------------------------

"Wow…" Tenten said.

"Yeah, wow." Sakura agreed.

"I learned a lot of new things today." Sasuke said like he was in a trance. He was like a zombie; he was in astonishment of everything Kiba had said.

"I did not need to know everything they talked about." Neji was also in a trance-like state.

"Yeah. I think we should get back to work." Sasuke recommended.

"Definitely." Neji nodded. "Oh yeah, and Kiba?"

"Yeah?" Kiba turned to Neji.

"You're eating dinner at the Hyuuga mansion tonight." Neji stated.

"Actually, I was going to take Hi-" Kiba started.

"That wasn't a suggestion, it was an order." Neji glared at Kiba until he gave in.

"Okay, your house it is." Kiba scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Good." Neji said.

Sasuke and Neji left to actually work for once.

"I guess we should be going. Tsunade-sama's going to be mad if I'm late to her office again." Sakura left running towards the Hokage's building.

"We need to get some formal clothing for you, Kiba-kun." Hinata told Kiba.

"Aww, man." Kiba sighed.

Kiba and Hinata walked out of the park, which left Tenten all by herself.

"Aww, man. I have no where to go. I'm the most unimportant main character. Where can I go?" She pouted. "I guess I'll stuff my face with dango (Japanese dumpling) or something." She slugged her way out of the park with her back slouched and trudging her feet. Her shoes never left the ground, which scratched them up very badly.

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_At Shikamaru's house…11:29 P.M._

"So what did he say?" Shikaku asked.

"Nothing that would interest _you_." Yoshino answered lightly.

"Oh really?" Shikaku asked.

"Yes, unless you want to sit in your corner again." Yoshino shrugged.

"Okay…" Yoshino's husband declined.

_Five minutes later…_

"Yes. Thank you very much!" Yoshino spoke in a light, cheerful tone. She hung up the phone. "Good news! I'm talking to the two of them tomorrow!"

"On such short notice? How's that even possible?" Shikaku asked.

"I have my ways." Yoshino grinned. "Goodnight honey!"

"G'nite dear." Shikaku slipped into bed and turned off the lamp on the small table next to him.

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**A/N: **I swore a lot this chapter. I just noticed that. I typed 'kuso' 6 times in one chapter! Weird…anyways, next chapter will be up as soon as possible! I think this chapter was one of the definite worst since it really didn't have anymore info about the story other than the last part.


	14. Chapter 13 Interference Is For the Best

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I _did_ find out that some of my friends are big Naruto fans just like me as well! I'm not alone!**

**A/N: **Only one more day left and I have so many words to go! I seriously can't make it in time now! Unless somehow I can write faster than I can think, then sure.

**Published November 29, 2006**

**Chapter 13 - Interference Is For the Best**

There was a sudden ringing of a phone.

"Who could be calling this late?" Ino whined lazily as she rubbed her eyes and answered her phone. She yawned as she spoke into the receiver. "Moshi, moshi."

"Yamanaka Ino?" A voice asked.

"Yeah?" Ino responded, still yawning.

"You have been requested to the Nara house of Shikaku and Yoshino." A secretary informed.

"And you're telling me this now because?" Ino asked.

"It was an urgent message that had to be sent as soon as possible." The secretary said.

"Yeah, yeah. Okay. Whatever." Ino yawned again.

"You must meet at the Nara house at 9 o'clock in the morning. Do you need the address and directions?" The secretary asked politely.

"No. Oyasuminasai (good night)." Ino said as she hung up the phone. She laid her head back onto her pillow and started to doze off. "Oh, great. I have to get to…" Ino said before she shot up from her pillow. "…wait a minute! Shikamaru's house?!" Ino finally noticed. 'Does he want to talk to me that badly that he has to request it and have an urgent message sent to me? Oh man! It must mean that he likes me! He's going to choose _me_! Oh crap!' "Damn it! I can't go back to sleep _now_!"

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Another ring of a phone went off that very late night.

Temari picked up the phone aggressively. "Whoever the hell this is, it better be important!" She shouted into the phone.

"Temari-san. You have been requested to the Nara house of Shikaku and Yoshino." A secretary informed again.

"Okay. Is that all?" Temari said impatiently.

"Yes."

"Okay. Oyasuminasai (good night)." Temari said quickly right before she slammed her wireless phone down on her table. "Ugh…" She frustratingly said. "Time to get some shu-oh my Kami did that guy just say the Nara house?!" Temari realized. "No, no, no! Why does this have to happen when I _don't_ like him anymore?!" Temari pouted. "This sucks!" She fell back onto her pillow weightlessly. She sighed. "How am I supposed to sleep now?"

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_Later that very morning…_

"I couldn't sleep a wink." Temari yawned as she ate some cereal. "I might as well go early…" She shrugged. "I have nothing better to do." Temari muttered. 'Hopefully, I can get this over with quickly and never talk to him again…he'd probably say it's too troublesome to get angry or emotional but I know he doesn't really mean it…' She slurped her last bit of milk from her bowl and threw her dishes in the sink.

As slowly as possible, Temari left her apartment. 'Maybe I went a little _too_ early.' She thought as she saw the stores and shops _just_ beginning to open. 'Good thing I'm sleepy as hell and can't find the energy to walk.' Temari thought as she trudged, wiping her feet against the friction filled ground.

"Ohayo, Temari!" A voice cheerfully waved.

"Ohayo, Tenten." Temari yawned.

"Wow, Temari, your eyes are barely open. I thought you were sleepwalking or something. Did you pull an all-nighter or something? What are you doing around town so early in the morning, anyways?" Tenten asked.

"I couldn't sleep yesterday. I have to go to…" Temari yawned again. "…Shikamaru's house."

"Uhh…really?" Tenten asked. 'Did Temari really say that? I thought she didn't like him that way anymore?' Tenten thought.

"Yup." Temari nodded faintly. "What are _you_ doing out this early?" Temari asked. 'I have time to talk with my somewhat good friend.' She assured herself.

"I'm meeting with Neji and Rock Lee at the training grounds." Tenten sighed. "They never give me a break. Of all times they could choose to train it _had_ to be early morning."

"Bummer." Temari said, half asleep, not paying too much attention to whatever Tenten was saying. "Well, I should get going." She just wanted this conversation to end already.

"Yeah, me too." Tenten walked past Temari. "Ja ne (good bye), Temari!" She said as she waved and looked back at Temari, while walking forwards towards the training ground.

Temari sighed. 'She can be so annoying sometimes. I wish I was Ino right now. _She_ wouldn't have to go through any of this. She'll be happy with Shikamaru declines her as his date.'

It was a good thing Temari didn't leave on time. It took her almost an hour to get to the Nara house when it should have taken her fifteen minutes. She moved as slow as a slug if not slower. The hour after she left her house, Temari finally arrived at the front door. She knocked lightly on the door.

As the door opened, Temari wasn't at all surprised to see who she saw. "Ohayo gozaimasu (good morning), Nara-san." Temari said courteously as she bowed slightly.

"Call me, Yoshino." Shikamaru's mother put the tips of her fingers on her chest. "Come in, Temari. You're early."

"Mm." Temari agreed as she stepped inside the Nara house, straight into the living room. She quickly took a look at her surroundings. 'Nothing's changed. Everything in here looks exactly the same.'

"Would you like something to drink?" Yoshino asked politely, in the kitchen, noticing Temari with her eyes barely open.

"Yes, please." Temari said politely.

"Tea?" Yoshino asked.

"Hai." Temari nodded.

Yoshino came out of the kitchen with a hot cup of tea. "Come on; let's go to the dining room." She gestured her head towards the dining room.

Temari followed Yoshino and pulled out and sat down in one of the chairs. She quickly blew on her tea and took a sip of it. Once Temari swallowed her first sip of tea, she put the cup down. "Yoshino?" Temari asked.

"Yes, Temari?" Yoshino said as she watched Temari, still standing up.

"Where's Shikamaru?" Temari looked around and couldn't see him anywhere in sight. 'I don't even feel his chakra or anything.'

"He's at work. He's been doing very well at the Hokage's office." Yoshino smiled.

"But I thought he was supposed to talk to me?" Temari asked. If she wasn't so tired and not trying to be kindhearted, she would be throwing something big out the window and chasing after Shikamaru.

Yoshino giggled quietly. "Actually, Shikamaru didn't know that you were coming here at all. _I_ arranged for you to come here." Yoshino pointed to herself.

"You did? But…why?" Temari asked.

"I wanted to talk to you about something…Shikamaru to be exact…" Yoshino explained.

Temari nodded.

"Well…" Yoshino started. "I wa-hey I think I hear the door opening!" She quickly changed the subject.

"Yoshino!" A voice shouted.

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"Didn't get a minute of sleep. I'm gonna look horrible for Shikamaru." Ino mumbled with her pouted lips. "Maybe he won't go out with me once he sees my face."

"Ohayo (good morning), Ino!" A voice greeted.

"Ohayo (good morning), Sakura." Ino said lazily.

"What happened to you? You look like you stayed up all night. Those bags are huge! You look like Gaara…except you know, _with_ eyebrows." Sakura grinned.

"Yeah," Ino yawned, raising her arms up in the air. "Whatever."

"Well, where are you headed?" Sakura asked.

"Umm…Shikamaru's house." Ino rubbed her eyes.

"Really? Why?" Sakura raised an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't like him anymore."

"I know bu-…wait just a second! I didn't tell you I didn't like him anymore!" Ino shouted.

Sakura laughed nervously. "Heh, heh…umm…gotta go now! Bye, Ino!" With those last words, Sakura ran as fast and far away as she could.

Ino would have never been able to catch up to her. Sakura had fear on her side. Ino didn't care anyways. She was happy living her life without a boyfriend and now that Shikamaru was out of the way, she could date whomever she wanted. She didn't care when or how Sakura found out about her feelings for Shikamaru, but it didn't matter. What's done was done.

Ino walked sleepily to the Nara house. When she finally reached the house, she almost fell asleep. She was about to knock the door and wait for someone to answer, but she was out of energy and dozed off quickly. The only reason she didn't fall asleep right then and there was because someone had tapped her on the shoulder.

Ino, with her quick reflexes, grabbed the hand and twisted the arm a full 360. Unfortunately, she attacked the person before she saw who it was.

"Oww…good arm, Ino." The man rubbed his arm vigorously.

Ino gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh my goodness! Shikaku-san! Gomenasai (sorry)!" She apologized.

"It is okay, Ino." Shikaku said sorely. "I'm fine; just a little bruised." Shikaku assured. "You're going in…to see…"

"Yup." Ino said as she nodded, assuming Shikaku was going to say Shikamaru.

"Well let's go in then." Shikaku took out his house key and opened the front door. "Ino." Shikaku gestured for Ino to step inside.

Ino nodded as she walked into the Nara house. 'Wow. I haven't been here in ages. Everything looks exactly like it did the last time I came over. That brings back a lot of memories.'

"Yoshino!" Shikaku called out.

"What?!" Yoshino shouted. She sounded a bit annoyed.

"She's here!" Shikaku continued to call out.

"Hello, I'm right here. No need to yell." Yoshino said, waving her hand in front of Shikaku, as she stood next to him.

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Temari came out of the dining room, pouring tea into her mouth. "Who's h-Ino!" Temari almost dropped her cup and was very close to spitting out the hot tea in her mouth. Thankfully, Temari had a tight grip on her cup and was too sleepy to do act very surprised.

"Temari!" Ino's eyes widened. "What are _you_ doing here? I'm supposed to be talking to Shikamaru."

"Actually…" Yoshino grinned.

"Don't tell me…she's here for the same reason _I_ am?" Temari guessed.

Yoshino nodded. "You are correct! I knew you were a smart one."

"What are you two talking about?" Ino asked dumbfounded by Temari and Yoshino.

"I'll be upstairs." Shikaku said, walking, with a slumped back, upstairs. He was in his 'emo' mood again. When he arrived at his room he, again, sat in a corner and rocked back and forth.

"What's wrong with him?" Temari asked, looking up the stairs.

Yoshino shrugged. "I don't know. Men these days. You can't understand anything they do."

Ino and Temari both nodded in agreement.

"So, why don't we go to the dining room and talk some more?" Yoshino asked and answered herself. She walked towards the dining room and Temari and Ino had no choice but to follow her.

"Ino, would you like some tea. Temari, more tea." Yoshino asked, smiling. She had asked only because she noticed that Ino's eyes had bags as dark as Gaara's and Temari had already finished her first cup tea.

"Yes, please." Both girls said at the same time as they sat down next to each other.

Yoshino took Temari's empty cup of tea and quickly, like magic, brought out two fresh cups of tea. "Here you go." She put the two cups of tea on the table. Then she sat down across from Ino and Temari. 'Why are they sitting next to each other? I thought they didn't like each other one bit.' Yoshino asked herself in her head.

"Domo (thank you)." Temari and Ino said in unison again.

"Do itashi mashite (your welcome)." Yoshino said. "Now I know you're both wondering what you two are doing here when Shikamaru's at work."

"Shikamaru's at work?" Ino asked. She still didn't find out that Shikamaru never sent a message to see him.

"Hai." Yoshino answered. "_I_ sent someone to contact you to come here today." Yoshino clarified. "I wanted to talk to you two about Shikamaru…together."

Ino and Temari both nodded in acknowledgement.

"Umm…why are you two sitting next to each other?" Yoshino couldn't fight the urge of asking.

"Umm…why wouldn't we be sitting next to each other?" Temari raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you and Ino weren't friends. Actually, I thought you two were…enemies." Yoshino admitted.

"Oh!" Ino said. "You thought we were fighting for Shikamaru, right?" Ino predicted.

Yoshino nodded. "Yes."

"Oh…we aren't fighting anymore!" Temari chuckled, waving her finger back and forth between herself and Ino.

"Yeah, we're friends now. We _were_ rivals for a time though. But we worked it out." Ino added.

Temari nodded.

"I see…well that's good to hear. Now I know there won't be as much tension in the room." Yoshino smiled cheerfully.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Temari asked, getting right down to business.

"Well, I was talking to Shikamaru and he said he cannot decide who to choose." Yoshino started.

"That's great!" Ino's face lit up like a Christmas tree.

Yoshino raised an eyebrow. "Am I missing something again?"

"Yeah. There's something you should know…umm…" Ino tried to say she didn't want to go out with Shikamaru anymore, but she didn't know how to tell Yoshino.

"We don't want to date Shikamaru anymore." Temari said splurged out quickly.

"W-What?" Yoshino was surprised if anything. "Y-You guys are kidding, right?" She couldn't believe what Temari had said.

"No…it's true." Ino said with her head hanging low.

"We only like him as a friend." Temari added, also with her head hung very low.

"But how did this happen? Shikamaru told me that you two _both_ liked him. I was so happy when he told me he had a girl problem and what made me even happier was that it was about _two_ girls, and two strong and fierce girls. Now you don't like him that way? How did that happen?" Yoshino asked, hurt that his little boy's only two possible girlfriends only liked him as a friend.

"Yoshino…we're sorry. But _you_ would do the same if you heard our reasoning." Temari said quietly.

"We really did love Shikamaru and we still love Shikamaru. We've just realized that if he can't make a decision between the two of us, it means he loves us equally. We didn't notice it until everyone already found out we both liked him." Ino spoke softly.

"It's best if Shikamaru doesn't choose one of us over the other. If he chooses one, he will have a thought forever in his head if he chose the right girl." Temari still spoke quietly. "So you see…"

"…it's in everyone's best interest if we stay friends and only friends with Shikamaru." Ino finished.

"Okay…thank you girls." Yoshino said quietly with her head as low as Ino's and Temari's. Then, after what seemed like an eternity of silence, Yoshino popped her head up and smiled. "Well, that's good! Now I don't have to talk to the two of you about Shikamaru's chores at his new apartment!"

"NANI (WHAT)?!" Ino and Temari shouted so loud, you would think there was an earthquake.

"Hold up! What did you just say?" Temari asked to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.

"I said that I wouldn't have to speak to you two about Shikamaru's chores and new apartment?" Yoshino said, unsure of why they would care.

"New apartment? You said new apartment, right?" Ino asked excitedly.

"Yes, I did." Yoshino said calmly.

"_Why_ exactly is Shikamaru getting a new apartment?" Ino asked.

"Shikaku and I were talking a couple of years ago when Shikamaru first became a Chuunin. We made an agreement that Shikamaru would be able to live in his own apartment once he got a girlfriend. He never found a girl so he never got his apartment." Yoshino said put in plain words.

Ino stared blankly to the wall. "Wow…" Ino was almost speechless.

Temari was staring blankly as well. "Yeah…wow…" Temari was just as in awe of it. "Shikamaru having his own apartment? Him, living without his parents to take care of him? Unbelievable."

"Exactly." Ino said. Temari took her words right out of her head. "So if Shikamaru got a girlfriend when he first became a Chuunin, you would have given him his apartment then?" She asked.

"Hai. That's correct." Yoshino nodded.

"I should've taken him when I had the chance." Temari continued to stare blankly.

"When you had the chance? What about me? I had plenty of chances and passed all of them. How dumb was that?" Ino continued blankly as well.

"We give a bad name to blondes. We've missed our chances." Temari said.

"Yeah, we sure have." Ino agreed.

"Not necessarily." Yoshino corrected.

"Hmm?" Both girls sounded.

"One of you still has a chance of becoming Shikamaru's girlfriend since Shikamaru hasn't learned that you only like him as a friend. And if one of you becomes his girlfriend, Shikamaru can move out and live in an apartment." Yoshino supported.

Ino and Temari turned to each other. They had a glare of fire in their eyes. If there was a staring contest, Ino and Temari would beat out everyone, including the glaring kings, Neji and Sasuke.

"Well, look at the time. I think you girls should be going now." Yoshino stood up and gestured the two kunoichis out of the dining room, into the living room, and out the door. "See you later…or at least of one you! Sayonara!" Yoshino waved goodbye.

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"Ino." Temari said angrily.

"Temari." Ino said back with just as much anger.

"I think we have a bigger prize to think about now, don't we?" Temari said.

"Yes, yes we do." Ino agreed.

"Well, for now then, we are rivals once again." Temari indicated.

"We are rivals until we can make a decision that will benefit everyone…or at least the two of us." Ino added.

"Deal." Temari stretched her arm out in front of herself.

"Deal." Ino reached her arm out to Temari's hand.

The two blonde kunoichis shook hands on their arrangement.

"Talk to you later then?" Ino asked.

"Yeah…later…" Temari nodded.

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Yoshino stood in her bedroom, looking out of her window, with the sun shining bright, casting a shadow over her face. "Perfect…" She said.

"You succeeded...?" Shikaku asked from the corner of the room.

"Of course I succeeded! Did you think I wouldn't?" Yoshino asked expecting only one answer.

"Of course I thought you would succeed honey!" Shikaku laughed nervously.

"Good." Yoshino said. '_That's_ the answer I wanted to hear from you.'

"But don't you think this is a bad idea…even a little bit…a tad…a smidget?" Shikaku asked, still rocking back and forth.

"Not at all! Don't you want our little boy to be happy?! If Ino and Temari only think of Shikamaru as a friend, Shikamaru will never get a girlfriend! I am _not_ messing up my chance to get my little boy _out_ of this house!" Yoshino scowled.

"Yes, dear." Shikaku agreed in fear.

"Exactly. Whoever Shikamaru picks will be happy anyways once they see what a great guy Shikamaru can be." Yoshino said. "It'll be perfect…just wait and see honey."

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**A/N:** Kind of creepy ending huh? Is Yoshino evil? What will Temari and Ino do next? How will I finish this before midnight tomorrow? Some of these questions will be answered someday…or maybe not.


	15. Chapter 14 A Little Time to Think

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I couldn't think of something funny or interesting to put here so you'll have to hang your head low in sadness until I think of something next time.**

**A/N: **I sadly only got to 40,360 words for NaNoWriMo, but it wasn't because I wasn't on time, it was because I finished my FanFiction! lol. So yeah…I don't feel so bad, but I would still like that certificate…

**Published December 1, 2006**

**Chapter 14 - A Little Time to Think**

"I don't think this is going to work, Tsunade." Shikamaru shook his head.

"Well, who asked you?!" Tsunade retorted.

"Uhh…you did?" Shikamaru said.

"Oh, yes, but hasn't anyone ever told you the teacher is always right?" Tsunade raised her chin up in victory.

"No…no, not really." Shikamaru said bluntly. "And you're not really my teacher."

Tsunade frowned. "Whatever! Just hold it already!" Tsunade ordered.

"Yeah, yeah." Shikamaru said, holding a magnifying glass. "How troublesome." Shikamaru muttered. "Why are we doing this again?" He asked because what he was doing was very juvenile.

"I've always wanted to do this and now I finally can!" Tsunade cheered. "Now hold it still!" She commanded Shikamaru.

"Okay, okay." Shikamaru said. 'Of all the Hokages, Tsunade has to be the weirdest one of them all, and I had to be her special assistant. What happened to Shizune?'

"Yes! It's working! I've always wanted to try this! I didn't think it could really work, but it can!" Tsunade jumped up and down with glee. "Yes, it's working! It's working! No! No! Don't go! No!" Tsunade pouted.

"I told you it wouldn't work." Shikamaru muttered loudly in an 'I told you so' tone.

"Hn." Tsunade glared in a 'shut up or else' kind of look. "Maybe it's _your_ fault it didn't work." Tsunade pointed at Shikamaru.

"It's not. The sun isn't in the right position. The sun needs to be in the right spot correspondent to the magnifying glass to work." Shikamaru said in an 'as a matter of fact' voice.

"Hn." Tsunade glared at Shikamaru again. "At least I burned _one_ ant." Tsunade said, looking down on the ground to see an ant which was black and crisp.

Shikamaru sighed. "How troublesome." He put his hands in his pockets.

"Let's go back inside and eat something. You're treating right?" Tsunade grinned at Shikamaru.

"But _you're_ the Hokage. Shouldn't _you_ be treating?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Well, that would the 'Hokage'-like thing to do, but you know me, I am _nothing_ like the other Hokages!" Tsunade pointed to herself with her thumb, grinning widely.

'She acts like Naruto more and more everyday.' Shikamaru thought. "Fine, I'll buy lunch."

Tsunade continued to grin. "I knew you'd see it _my_ way!"

"Yeah, yeah. But we're getting something cheap. I'm saving up my money." Shikamaru informed.

"Ooh…what'cha savin' up for, Shikamaru?" Tsunade continued to grin.

'Grinning for so long can cause your face to get stuck that way.' Shikamaru remembered reading that from a book he read a long time ago. "It's none of your business…"

"But Shikamaru! I'm the Hokage!" Tsunade whined like a baby. "Hey! I'm the Hokage!" She realized. "Shikamaru, I order you tell me what you are saving up your money for!"

Shikamaru sighed. "How troublesome." He mumbled lazily. "My funeral."

"Nani (what)?" Tsunade wiped some earwax from her ear. 'Did I hear correctly? Am I growing old or something?' "Did you just say your funeral?"

Shikamaru nodded.

Tsunade's eyes widened. "You need help right away, Shikamaru! You're supposed to be a genius! Your girl problem isn't that big of a deal! Suicide is not the right thing to do in a situation like this! I'll get you help right away!" Tsunade grabbed Shikamaru's arm and ran with it, dragging Shikamaru.

"How troublesome." Shikamaru sighed. "Tsunade, I'm not committing suicide. I'm not going to kill myself. Ino or Temari is." Shikamaru clarified.

"Sure, that's what they all say!" Tsunade argued.

-------------------------------------------------

"Troublesome woman…I can't even get a word around without her shouting it out to all of Konoha." Shikamaru sighed. "Why can't Tsunade just give me a break already?!"

"Ohayo gozaimasu (good morning), Shikamaru-san!" A lady with short black hair popped her head out from the door. It was none other than Shizune herself, with her pig in her arms, of course.

"Ohayo, Shizune." Shikamaru sighed. He didn't feel like talking to anyone at the moment.

"What's wrong? How was your day with Tsunade-sama? Did she do something strange again? Off task? Unorthodox?" Shizune asked, listing words describing many of her past times with Tsunade.

"She had me hold a magnifying glass so she could burn some ants." Shikamaru informed lazily.

Shizune shook her head with her fingertips on her forehead. "Not again! She has said she wanted to try that one out for a while now."

"Yeah…she told me." Shikamaru said.

"You watch the Science channel _one_ time when they are talking about interesting tests to try at home and she goes _crazy_ over these experiments." Shizune sighed. "She was _supposed_ to be doing some more paperwork, but somehow persuaded me to let her take a break and watch TV. I should have warned you not let her go outside."

"Yeah, you should have." Shikamaru agreed.

"Did she ask for a meal afterwards?" Shizune assumed Tsunade's actions since she's been working with her for such a long time.

"Yeah, she asked me to pay for lunch, but we never made it to a restaurant." Shikamaru said.

"Why not?" Shizune asked curiously.

"I told her the meal had to be cheap because I am saving up money for my funeral. Then she assumed that I was going to commit suicide, so she gave me to a therapy session herself. Even though I told her over and over again that I wasn't thinking about committing suicide, she still went on with her therapy session." Shikamaru said in one large breath. "Very troublesome."

"I should have warned you about that as well…" Shizune laughed nervously. "I guess I should have prepared you for this."

"How do you live working with her _every._ _Single._ _Day_?" Shikamaru emphasized.

Shizune shrugged. "I don't know…I guess I'm just used to it."

"_Please_ tell me you won't be running errands for a very, very, very long time." Shikamaru almost sounded like he was begging.

"Don't worry! It was just a one time thing. You won't have to take care of Tsunade for a while." Shizune assured Shikamaru.

"Domo (thank you)." Shikamaru said as he sighed a relieved sigh.

"So, Shikamaru-san…?" Shizune said.

"Yes?" Shikamaru asked.

"I heard that you have quite a predicament in your hands." Shizune said.

"Yeah?" Shikamaru asked again.

"Is it true?" Shizune asked to make sure her information wasn't false and just a rumor like all of the other rumors about Shikamaru and girls.

"Is what true?" Shikamaru wondered if Shizune knew the truth or just another fake rumor made up by Kiba or Naruto.

"Are Ino and Temari _fighting_ over you?" Shizune asked.

'Damn it. How did she find out? Where does _everyone_ find out about my personal life? Is there like a newspaper or something printing out people's personal secrets? Oh yeah, that's called a magazine…' Shikamaru thought to himself. "Yes. I guess you can say it that way." He said calmly.

"Oh…okay." Shizune said. "May I give you some advice?"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "You want to give me advice? On what?" Shikamaru asked.

"On what to do. You haven't made a decision have you?" Shizune asked.

"No." Shikamaru answered.

"Then, I suggest that you talk to them, one by one, by yourself. Just the two of you. You can work things out and everything will be fine. It worked well for me." Shizune said.

"You've done this before?" Shikamaru asked.

Shizune panicked when she realized that she slipped up her secret. "What?! No, no. Not at all. Where did you get a silly idea like that?" She tried to stay calm, although she was very bad at it.

"But you just said…" Shikamaru started.

"Well forget what I said." Shizune ordered.

"But how will I…" Shikamaru started again.

"Just remember this; work things out with each of them one at a time and everything should work out. Okay?" Shizune said, hoping Shikamaru would forget whatever she had said before.

"Uhh…sure…whatever." Shikamaru shrugged. 'Too troublesome to try to figure out.' He convinced himself.

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'Everyone's giving me advice. Why?' Shikamaru thought as he stared up at the ceiling. 'Everybody wants to help me out but they can't. Everyone has different advice. Why should I trust them? They aren't geniuses in relationships? Maybe Tsunade was right on the idea of seeing a therapist…except not a suicide therapist.'

'This has to be one of the toughest decisions of my life. That's pretty sad. The hardest decision to make for me isn't about my family or work, but a date. A simple date…I can't even choose who to go out with for something as simple as a date. If only I were a cloud! I could be free and not have to worry about thinking and feelings or anything! I could just float in the sky and have the wind blow me away.' Shikamaru wished.

'Hopefully I will make the right decision, but who knows? I could choose Ino and find out later that I should have chosen Temari… I could choose Temari and find out later that I should have chosen Ino…I can't break up with one and go for the other…the one I break up with would hate me and the one I go after will think I'm in insincere jerk.' Shikamaru deduced.

'What am I going to do?! I'm already sixteen and I haven't been on a date yet. Maybe I should just take a fangirl or something.' Shikamaru said desperately.

'_You can't be that desperate! That's just sad!_' Shikamaru's inner-self told him. '_Your decision is only yours to make, but there **has** to be a right one!_' His inner-self detailed.

'Well, maybe you're wrong.' Shikamaru told his inner-self.

'_Are you **crazy**? Do you know who you are **talking** to? I'm your **brain**! The **smart** part of your brain! **I** am the one that knows **everything**!_' His inner-self argued.

'Oh please! Don't listen to _him_! _I_ am the one you should be listening to. I am the affectionate part of your brain. _I_ know love and what to do about it.' The other part of Shikamaru's inner-self brain said.

'_Shikamaru is not smart with **love**! **I** am the only intelligent thing Shikamaru has! Why should he listen to **you**?_' Shikamaru's 'smart' inner-self said.

'At least I know _something_ about love, unlike _you_! _You_ are coldhearted! At least _I_ am kind.' Shikamaru's 'affectionate' inner-self argued.

'Okay you two. Stop fighting. I don't care what you guys think. Well I do care. I just don't want you two troublesome voices to argue in my head. When I can think of a solution, I'll use it, so just go away.' Shikamaru said in his head.

'Someone's a little touchy today.' Shikamaru's 'affectionate' side said.

"_Yup. Definitely on the touchy side._' Shikamaru's 'smart' side agreed.

"Hn. Troublesome brain." Shikamaru said.

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**A/N: **I think it was kind of confusing with Shikamaru and his two selves. Yeah, so yeah…I'll upload the next chapters soon…it's late so I'll probably go to sleep before I can upload the rest of the chapters.


	16. Chapter 15 Taking It Into Consideration

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, I wouldn't even know the meaning of the word 'filler' because I would never have a 'filler'.**

**A/N: **This is basically a filler mostly…somewhat not…somewhat is…so yeah…

**Published December 1, 2006**

**Chapter 15 - Taking It Into Consideration**

'I need some advice…some persuasion…something! But from where?!' Temari poked her bottom lip with her index finger. 'What was it that Gaara said again a couple of days ago?' Her eyes looked up to her forehead to remember exactly what Gaara said that day.

_Flashback_

"_I'd like to give my interpretation of this chaos." Gaara said. "Temari seems to be having second thoughts about Shikamaru. She doesn't want to go out on a date with him anymore but she still has feelings for him. She doesn't want to give up though because if she told Shikamaru that she didn't want to go out with him anymore, he would choose Ino by default. Ino would feel like a winner and rub it in her face for a very long time. So she can't do that. But she also can't go out with Shikamaru. Even though Temari would love break another guy's heart, Shikamaru's different and because he's different Temari can't tell him the truth. Shikamaru would have made a bad decision and go into an 'emo' mode in a second. Their relationship would be strained. There's no right way out of this if you think of it thoroughly. Sure, Temari could admit defeat, but she has too much pride in herself to lose to Ino. She could tell Shikamaru the truth but she's grown too close to him to change their close-knit relationship. I haven't figured out a way in which there is no negativity involved."_

_End Flashback_

'Oh, yeah. I remember now. Gaara's right…I have to keep my mind on track…but that apartment!' Temari still argued wit herself and new dilemma.

"I need to sleep or something. My brain is hurting like hell!" Temari rubbed her head as she closed her eyes and turned to her side on the couch. 'I don't need to decide what to do _now_ anyways. I have time…' She thought her last thought before she dozed off.

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"Why does this have to be so difficult?! Why can't I just make a decision already?! I need some help!" Ino frustratingly said. 'I know Sakura helped me out. What did she say again? Oh yeah…'

_Flashback_

_Ino sighed. "Maybe I should just go out with Chouji or something."_

"_Ino Yamanaka! Don't say something like that! Chouji's great and all, but come on; everyone knows you truly love Shikamaru." Sakura said. "Shikamaru is the one. I just know it! He loves you. He just well, doesn't want to die..._ _He loves you! His mind is just confused because of Temari. He really does love you; it's just too foggy for him to see it."_

"_**You** didn't realize your feelings for him until he became a Chuunin. I think you had feelings for him **all** along, but couldn't see them until later." Sakura continued. "Temari's got nothing on you! She doesn't have the same relationship that you and Shikamaru have."_

"_Well what's the point of pointing out positives when there are so many overpowering negatives?! I'd be hurting myself even more if I stay positive just to have my heart crushed when Shikamaru chooses Temari instead of me." Ino said._

"_If you feel that strongly, then tell Shikamaru." Sakura suggested._

"_If Shikamaru chooses Temari, they'll be all happy and it's over for me. Shikamaru would be spending a lot of time with Temari. I won't even be able to talk to him because of Temari. In case you haven't noticed already, Temari doesn't like me very much. There would be many awkward situations that I really don't want to face…there are more dilemmas. I could tell Shikamaru that I don't want to date him anymore but by default, Temari would beat me. I'll regret that my whole life…and she would rub it in forever. If I go out with Shikamaru and it doesn't work out…I can't see myself having the same relationship we used to have. There are too many awkward moments that will occur in the future." Ino admitted._

_End Flashback_

Ino sighed. "There's too much pain mixed in with all of this…I have to remind myself again and again that it isn't worth it…that apartment would be nice though…"

"Ugh! How can I _not_ think of something? It's such a simple question! Do I still like Shikamaru or _not_?!" A light bulb turned on in Ino's head. 'That's it! _That's_ my question!' She found out. "I have to find out if I still like Shikamaru or not?! Oh my gosh! I finally got it!" Ino breathed in and out to calm herself down. "Okay…_now_ I know what to do."

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**A/N: **Short, very short. You didn't really have to read it. I just felt like filling this chapter up with a filler. How rude I am.


	17. Chapter 16 Time to Think About It

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, the people who draw Temari would draw her better in the anime!**

**A/N: **Yeah…I really have nothing to put her here anymore so I'll just put N/A. lol. It'll be like A/N: N/A lol. That's funny to me…

**Published December 1, 2006  
**

**Chapter 16 - Time to Think About It**

_Temari's **P**oint **O**f **V**iew_

_At Temari's apartment…_

"What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?" Temari asked herself over and over again as she looked up at her apartment ceiling, lying down on her couch. "I can't think! I'm too frustrated to think!"

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"Just think about the problem. Find your solution. Work it out. Just like math." Temari compared. "Aww, man! I was horrible at math! Why couldn't it be science or something?!" Temari whined. "This sucks! Now I have to think about my worst subject in school to figure out what to do with Shikamaru. Just great!" Temari continued to complain.

"I'm not enjoying any of this! Not one bit! But I really, really, really want that apartment!" Temari said. "I know I have my own apartment, but to know that Shikamaru would have his own apartment! That just changes everything!" Temari explained to herself.

"There's nothing better than knowing that I would have a boyfriend who lives in his own apartment. It just feels…better!" Temari opinionated to herself. "If Yoshino never told me that Shikamaru would be getting his own apartment, I wouldn't be having this conversation at all."

"Maybe there's a reason why Yoshino told Ino and me this. She probably wanted _someone_ to go out with Shikamaru and be his girlfriend instead of Shikamaru just having a lot of girl friends. She really knows how a girl these days thinks, deviously bribing me and Ino with an apartment. She's one smart woman." Temari laughed a little. "Maybe she can tell Shikamaru that." Temari 'laughed out loud' for a moment.

Temari sighed as she closed her eyes to think. 'Even though Shikamaru is going to have his apartment and all, is he still worth it? I mean, if I think about it, it's not. Yet somehow, I'm still drawn to him…does that mean I _do_ still like him that way and _want_ him to be my boyfriend, even though he's a lazy-ass who will never amount to anything other than a cowardly genius?' Temari almost fell asleep while thinking, but remembered to pinch herself every now and then to wake herself up.

'Do I really _want_ a guy that lazy, that smart, that lazy, that young, and that lazy?' She asked herself, emphasizing his laziness as always. 'Do opposites really attract? Shikamaru and I are complete opposites. How many opposite couples have a long lasting relationship?'

'I shouldn't be stressing about all of this love mumbo jumbo. It's just a little crush, right?' Temari thought. 'Or maybe it's more…' Temari started to shake her head vigorously. '…no, it can't be! We're supposed to be friends and only friends. That's the way it was meant to be!'

'If we were meant to be, why is it so hard to realize it? Shouldn't love come easily? _I_ know if I love him, so shouldn't _he_ know if he loves _me_?' Temari thought more and more. 'Live and learn, make mistakes. _That_ is the best path to take. I remember that. I'm not sure if it's true, but it didn't come into my head for no reason, right? Maybe it means that I should take a chance…'

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_Ino's **P**oint **O**f **V**iew_

_At the Yamanaka house…_

"What to do? What to do? What to do?" Ino asked herself as she paced back and forth in her house with her arms crossed. "I can't do _anything_!" Ino negatively said. She sighed. "I'm not a thinker! I don't think; I just do!"

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"Maybe…just maybe…if I…no…that wouldn't work. Hey! Maybe if I…no…that wouldn't work anyways. I got it now! If I…wait…oh darn, I almost had it…" Ino said as she tried thinking of ways to work this whole 'Shikamaru' thing out. Her tries were countless but she still could not come up with one idea that didn't involve somebody dying or suing her.

"This isn't working! There has to be an easier way to do this!" Ino stayed positive. "Just think easily." She breathed in and out deeply.

"Okay. Now think. The first thing to do is to think about the problem. What am I looking for?" She asked herself.

"What to do with Shikamaru?" Ino answered herself. "But how?" She asked herself. "There are so many details, too many details, to find the answer before Shikamaru makes his decision."

"Maybe I should let Temari do all of the thinking…" Ino depressingly said. "She's the smart one…not me…I'm just the dumb blonde who everyone stereotypes." She unhelpfully said.

'_Don't say that! You're a great girl! You're a strong kunoichi who has a great family, great friends, and, don't forget my favorite part, great hair._' Ino's inner-self helped.

'Thanks, but you're just saying that because you're me.' Ino depressed even more. 'I'll just try to think about this some more.' Ino decided.

"Shikamaru won't go out with me because he feels the same way about Temari as he does to me. Then doesn't that mean that we're all just friends in this weird world of ours? Or maybe it's just me." Ino asked, too confused to think of an answer.

'_Maybe it's just you…I think it's just us…maybe you should take a nap or something…I think you're overreacting_.' Ino's inner-self butt in.

'I am _not_ overreacting!' Ino thought to her inner-self.

'_Are you sure…not even a little bit, a tad, nothing_?' Her inner-self said.

'I'm perfectly fine and normal. If anything, I'm not reacting enough!' Ino said.

'_Just take my advice and take a nap_.' Ino's inner-self suggested.

'I can't take a nap at a time like this! I have to think about Shikamaru, Temari, me, that apartment, everything! Everything is jumbled up into one and is killing me little by little!' Ino exaggerated.

'_Okay, Ino. Take a deep breath and calm down_.' Ino's inner-self recommended.

Ino breathed in and then out, following her inner-self's orders.

"_Now take a nap or something and think about it later. You have plenty of time to think about everything. There is no deadline or anything, so don't worry about it now, especially not all of it at the same time. That's just asking for disaster. So close your eyes and go to sleep. When you wake up, we'll work on this together…one by one…_' Ino's inner-self almost hypnotized Ino as her inner-self assured her.

Like hypnosis, Ino slowly nodded off on her couch.

_About an hour later…_

Ino yawned as she stretched her arms out. 'Now I can think about my problem with Shikamaru.' She quickly started thinking. 'He likes me, I know he does, but not like a girlfriend…he likes me as a friend and only as a friend.

'But _I_ don't like him as just a friend. How am I supposed to go on each day knowing that Shikamaru doesn't love me that way when I still have feelings for him? I won't be able to be happy for him when he does get a girlfriend and goes out on his first date. I want to be happy for him, but I know I won't be! How could I be? If he doesn't love _me_ that way, how could he love some complete stranger that way?'

'I just _can't_ imagine Shikamaru with anyone other than me. Well, Temari, I _can_ imagine, but whom else? No other girl has ever come close to Shikamaru. Sure there's Sakura, Hinata, and Tenten, but they don't like Shikamaru that way and Shikamaru doesn't have that special bond with any of them. No other woman, other than his mother, knows Shikamaru like Temari and I. So how is Shikamaru supposed to choose?'

'It's hard to believe that we are meant to be when he can't choose between me and Temari. But maybe it was, in the words of Neji, 'destiny' that Shikamaru and I sat next to each other in class at the Academy, we were put together in the same team squad, and our parents are good friends with each other? Maybe Sakura's right…maybe Shikamaru can't see that he's supposed to be with me…'

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**A/N: **I thought this chapter was okay…you know…yeah…


	18. Chapter 17 He's Thinking?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, Temari would be in a lot more episodes and chapters!**

**A/N: **Another short chapter. It's only 3 pages long. Too lazy to write anything interesting here.

**Published ** **December 1, 2006**

**Chapter 17 - He's Thinking?**

Shikamaru sighed. 'If only I were lazier, less curious, and less kindhearted. If I was less kindhearted, I would have never picked up the picture frame to help Chouji. If I were less curious, I would have never seen and taken out the opening of Ino's photo. If I were lazier, I would have never read the note she wrote and want to read more and look at Temari's note.'

'When I don't think of Ino, I think of Temari and when I think of Temari, I think of Ino. Damn teenage hormones.' Shikamaru blamed. 'Maybe I should listen to Shizune…'

_Flashback_

"_Just remember this; work things out with each of them one at a time and everything should work out. Okay?" Shizune said._

_End Flashback_

'That's so troublesome. How am I supposed to do something so out of character?' Shikamaru asked himself. 'Not a good idea. It would be too troublesome to talk to each of them…it would even be troublesome to arrange for each of them to see me. It's not worth the trouble.'

'_You have to do **something**! They won't wait for you forever! Just pick one! Any one! Your mom already said it won't matter who you choose, so choose any one of them!_' Shikamaru's inner-self told Shikamaru.

'It's not that simple…it's complicated, which is troublesome…' Shikamaru told his inner-self.

'_It's simple enough…if Ino and Temari are truly two of a kind, it won't matter which one you choose!_' Shikamaru's inner-self argued.

'But they _aren't_ two of a kind. They're very different and unique in their own way.' Shikamaru argued back.

'_If that's how you feel, make a decision then! Work things out amongst…yourself and shut out everything else until you come up with your mind made up on a decision. Remember…it's only a date. It's not a forever lasting relationship and the girl you pick is the one you have to marry. It's only a date…keep that in your head._' His inner-self helped out.

'It's only a date, it's only a date, it's only a date, it's only a date, it's only a date…' Shikamaru said over and over in his head. 'But I'm still confused on who to choose.'

'It's hopeless now…I've talked to all of my friends, my mother, Shizune, and even Izumo and Kotetsu, well, until they started laughing in my face (which was right after Shikamaru said 'Ino and Temari')!' Shikamaru said depressed.

'There's nothing more I can do now but plan my funeral. I think I'll have an orchestra instead of a band. Yeah…bands are nice, but too loud for me. An orchestra, no, a quintet, would be nice and quiet and peaceful. Yes, five string instruments is a good number. That's what I want…'

'In the spring…when the clouds are white and fluffy…that's a good time…no April showers though.'

'Everyone should be there…yeah…my mom, dad, all of my friends, maybe the Hokage if she can make it, Izumo and Kotetsu, Shizune, and maybe even some of my distant relatives. I heard I have a relative in Konoha…uhh…my mom's sister's niece's daughter supposedly live around here…but I'm not sure…oh well. I want a small funeral anyways.'

'I want a shogi board with me in my grave…I don't need any money or anything…I can live with a shogi board and maybe a nice house.'

'I wonder how popular I am. I mean, a lot of people _do_ spread rumors about me…maybe they all know me really well, or at least they think they do. Would they ask to come to my funeral? No, they would just come to the funeral and sit in the back of the reception hall.'

'There aren't a lot of places to have a funeral. People die everyday. Maybe I should call in advance, or have someone else call, for a reception hall…'

'_You're not thinking about Ino or Temari or your relationship with them at all_!' Shikamaru's inner-self had to step in and take charge.

'What's the point?' Shikamaru asked bluntly.

'_The point is, you have two beautiful blonde girls who want to go out with you and you're sitting her thinking about your funeral?!_' Shikamaru's inner-self stated and asked at the same time.

'Exactly…it's too good to be true, so it must not be meant to be.' Shikamaru said plainly.

'_Fine…but don't come running to me when you realize what you're going to be missing out on_.' Shikamaru's inner-self said angrily.

'Troublesome brain…I can't even get along with myself…' Shikamaru said.

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**A/N:** Yeah…nothing to put here…lonely…


	19. Chapter 18 Newfound Plan

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, I would have all of the Naruto calendars! But I don't!**

**A/N: **Another short 3 pages…I think I'm making too many chapters with this…

**Published December 1, 2006**

**Chapter 18 - Newfound Plan**

"Hey, Ino." Temari said over the phone.

"Hey, Temari." Ino said back.

"Did you think of anything yet?" Temari asked, getting right to the point.

"Nope. You didn't think of anything either?" Ino assumed.

"Nope. This is sad…I know we're smarter than this…" Temari commented.

"Yeah, but what are we going to do? We can't really do anything…" Ino said.

"I know…but we are going to have to talk to Shikamaru about this sometime." Temari said.

"Hopefully we can think of something that will benefit the both of us or else…" Ino started.

"…we'll have to compete for him…" Temari finished for Ino. "I wouldn't mind some competition but that's not the way to go."

"Yeah, same here. Why can't Shikamaru just be a man and talk to us?" Ino asked.

"Exactly what I was thinking. Shikamaru's a big crybaby and coward. You can't expect him to do anything as troublesome as talking to a girl." Temari chuckled a little.

Ino giggled slightly as well. "At least we're friends now…that's the _one_ thing this big problem has benefited us from." Ino happily said.

"Yeah, we're good friends now. And we have Shikamaru to thank for that…we have to solve everything for ourselves, by ourselves. Just like a mission." Temari compared.

"Yeah." Ino agreed.

"Speaking of missions, I haven't been on a mission for a really long time…" Temari brought up.

"Yeah, me neither.' Ino said.

"I usually get my missions on the weekdays and I haven't gotten any at all!" Temari added.

"Oh…I usually get missions on weekends. I haven't gotten any this weekend at all either. Weird huh?" Ino said.

"Well, come to think of it, Tsunade _did_ see us fighting and had to know _something_ about Shikamaru's little dilemma with us." Temari pointed out.

"True. About that, Gomen (sorry). I didn't mean what I said back there. I was frustrated and heated up." Ino apologized.

"Me too; I was a jerk. I didn't imply all of those awful things I said. Gomen (sorry), Ino." Temari also apologized.

There was a loud 'boom' sound coming from Temari's end of the phone.

"Kankuro! What the hell did you do this time?!" Temari yelled.

"It wasn't me!" You could hear softly from Ino's phone.

"Looks like I've got to go, Ino. Well, I guess if and when we think of something to do about Shikamaru, we'll call each other, okay?" Temari suggested.

"Yeah, sure." Ino agreed.

"Ja ne (goodbye), Ino!" Temari said.

"Ja ne (goodbye), Temari!" Ino said.

Temari clicked the 'off' button on her phone.

Ino hung up her phone.

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Beep, beep, beep "Oh come on…where are you, Temari…?" Ino asked to herself on her phone. "Answer your phone already!"

"Moshi, moshi." A voice answered.

"Kankuro! Get Temari on the phone right now!" Ino ordered, shouting, to Kankuro.

"Okay, you don't have to scream in my ear." Kankuro said, putting his finger in his ear.

"Get her now!" Ino continued to shout.

"Okay, okay!" Kankuro said. "Temari!" Kankuro called out.

Temari came running down the stairs. "What is it _now_, Kankuro?" Temari sighed.

"Ino's on the phone. She yells too much." Kankuro said with is finger still in his ear.

"I heard that!" Kankuro and Temari heard Ino say from the phone even though it was many feet away from the two.

Temari grabbed the phone away from Kankuro. "Go away, Kankuro." Temari gestured a 'shoo' motion with her hand.

Kankuro pouted as he left the room with his arms crossed.

"Yeah, Ino?" Temari said.

"I think I know what we can do about Shikamaru!" Ino cheered.

"Really? That's great!" Temari smiled, though Ino couldn't tell.

"Yeah, it's logical, beneficial for the both of us, and it's simple." Ino added.

"Great!" Temari commented.

"Okay, first..." Ino continued to talk to Temari.

The two had a very long conversation. They were on the phone for three hours. It would have been much easier to just meet somewhere, but they've grown too close to Shikamaru and gained his laziness.

"Great! So, we'll start tomorrow." Temari declared.

"Yeah!" Ino nodded even though she knew Temari couldn't see it.

"See you tomorrow, Ino!" Temari said.

"Ja ne (goodbye)." Ino said. Ino hung up her phone.

Temari clicked the phone's 'off' button.

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**A/N: **Yeah…


	20. Chapter 19 The Agreement

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, I wouldn't have to upload Naruto episodes because I would already have them all!**

**A/N: **Just read…I think this is the best chapter out of the chapters I updated today.

**Published December 1, 2006**

**Chapter 19 - The Agreement**

'Another, boring, average day…another day I'll be distracted by my personal problems…how troublesome.' Shikamaru thought as he walked to the Hokage's office.

'Another day at work…seeing Tsunade and Shizune filling out paperwork…seeing the Intern Room filled with my many fangirls along with Sasuke and Neji fangirls hoping they can get to them through me. When will those fangirls learn?' Shikamaru thought as he walked through the office hallway.

'Another day in the office…my office looks exactly the same…same window, same clock, same photos, same tabl-huh? What's that?' Shikamaru thought as he walked into his office.

Shikamaru walked up to his desk. On it was a plain white piece of paper folded in a specific way that only girls in middle school would know… Shikamaru unfolded the piece of paper and laid it flat on his desk.

_**Dear Shikamaru,**_

_**Tomorrow, come to Konoha Park. There's something important you should know. The only way you can find out is by going to Konoha Park at exactly, and I mean exactly, 9 o'clock, in the morning. Don't be late or you'll never find out what's you need to find out and you'll forever be stricken with the thought in your mind of what you missed out on.**_

_**So come…9 o'clock at Konoha Park.**_

_**- You'll find out tomorrow who I am**_

'I guess I'll have to go to Konoha Park. How troublesome. I don't even know who it is.' Shikamaru said in his head. 'Whoever it is was smart enough to type it…I'll never have the energy to find out who this is.'

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_The next morning at exactly 9 o'clock in Konoha Park…_

'I'm here now…so where is this person?' Shikamaru thought in his mind.

"Hey, genius." A voice said from a tree.

Shikamaru looked over and saw a silhouette of someone. He already knew from the voice, but was positive who it was when he saw her shadow. It could only be one person…Temari.

Temari was leaning on a tree, with her arms crossed, and one foot against the tree. "So, you came; I knew you would." Temari smirked.

"I had a feeling you wrote the letter…" Shikamaru walked over to Temari.

"You did?" Temari continued to smirk. "Well, I did…but it wasn't just me…"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, Shikamaru!" Ino popped out from behind the tree, grinning with glee, waving her hand.

Shikamaru was definitely caught off guard. "I didn't expect _this_…" He said truthfully.

"And they call you a genius?" Temari smirked again.

"Well, what do you want?" Shikamaru asked politely.

"You know what we want Shikamaru." Ino answered the question without actually answering the question.

"We want to know who you choose…" Temari said.

"Me…" Ino pointed to herself.

"Or me…" Temari pointed to herself as well.

"Uhh…" Shikamaru drew a blank. He hadn't made a decision yet. He hoped he would never have to make that decision. Unluckily for him, he had to make a choice right here and now in front of the two scariest kunoichis who could whip you till you're whipped cream.

"You don't have an answer, do you?" Temari asked.

Shikamaru shook his head slightly.

Temari sighed. "Again, they call _you_ a genius?" She smirked ever-so slightly.

"Well, we're smart, Shikamaru." Ino said. "We _thought_ you wouldn't be able to decide between the two of us so Temari and I had a conversation with each other." Ino looked at Temari.

Temari looked at Ino and nodded.

"Okay, Shika-kun, we've made an agreement." Ino looked and spoke a little too cheerfully. "I'm getting you on the weekdays." Ino smiled sweetly.

"And _I'm_ getting you on the weekends." Temari smirked.

"And _how_ exactly did you two agree to this?" Shikamaru raised a brow.

"Well…" Ino started. "Temari…" She looked at Temari, gesturing her to answer.

"Ugh…fine." Temari sighed. "Okay, well Ino is always busy on the weekends with her parents and missions. We've worked it out with Tsunade, so Ino can see you on the weekdays and go on missions mostly on weekends." Temari looked at Ino, asking with her facial expression, for her to start talking.

"Mm-hm." Ino nodded. "And Temari has to stay in Suna with Gaara and Kankuro on the weekdays. She'll visit on weekends to see you. She already worked it out with her brothers. Now she only goes on missions on the weekdays."

"Are you sure you guys worked this out correctly?" Shikamaru asked, concerned that both girls would fight later on about unequal spending time.

"Hey, we're not as smart as you, but give us some credit, genius!" Temari put her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, Shikamaru! We're smart kunoichis!" Ino put on hand on her hip. "We already had Sasuke _and_ Neji check over our math. It's all even."

"Oh yeah! We forgot to tell him about holidays!" Temari looked scarily cheerful.

"Oh yeah…" Ino said slowly, looking happy in an evil way. "On holidays…" Ino looked at Temari.

"We _both_ spend time with you." Temari smirked. "Meaning…you do whatever we say…which includes…" Temari looked at Ino.

"Going shopping with us, buying stuff for us, taking us out wherever we want no matter how random, etcetera, etcetera." Ino finished for Temari.

"Nani (what)?!" Shikamaru whined.

"Shi-ka-ma-ru!" Temari and Ino looked angrily, with flaming eyes, at Shikamaru.

"Hai, hai (yes, yes)." Shikamaru said depressed as ever. It was bad enough to choose, but now that Ino and Temari had chosen for him…they might as well have killed him. He already had his whole funeral planned out anyways! "But I had my whole funeral planned!" Shikamaru complained. 'Maybe they'll let me go.'

"Hmm…well that's going to be a waste…I know!" Ino whispered something into Temari's ear. It was definitely something bad for Shikamaru.

"You're smarter than I thought, Yamanaka." Temari complimented.

"I always thought so." Ino smiled joyfully.

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_One month later…_

Chouji was in front of the big crowd when he began speaking, making sure he was loud enough for his friends to hear. "Here lies Shikamaru's dignity. I always thought his dignity was composed well and would live on forever, but I was wrong. Would anyone like to say a few words?" Chouji asked, sounding very mature and serious.

Naruto raised his hand and walked to where Chouji was standing. He grinned widely. "Shikamaru was very smart when it came to puzzles, but not when it came to the ladies!" His grin became wider. "Shikamaru's dignity, I'm sorry to see you go, but now I get to see Shikamaru get whipped all the time!" Naruto pointed at Shikamaru who was looking pretty red with Ino on his right arm and Temari leaning on his left shoulder with her arm.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and sighed. "Troublesome funeral. This was what I wanted for _my_ funeral, not my dignity's." He muttered. "Why does my dignity get my funeral?"

"Because…" Temari started as she looked at Ino for a queue.

"…you'll never die." The two girls said in unison.

"We won't let you! So don't try!" Ino said strictly.

"Yeah. We wouldn't have enough money to have a funeral for you anyways. We spent it all on your dignity." Temari smirked.

"Even more troublesome." Shikamaru sighed again.

"You should be happy, Shika-kun!" Ino grinned. "We are being kind enough to let you spend all of your free time with us!"

"And, we are being so nice to you by letting you live at all! You're lucky you're you, Shikamaru!" Temari winked at Shikamaru.

"Oh yeah…we have our plans for Christmas already!" Ino said.

"Ino! I thought that was supposed to be a surprise!" Temari said.

"Oh yeah, it was. But now that it isn't a surprise anymore…Shikamaru! For Christmas, we're _not_ going to boss you around and have you do things for us." Ino continued.

"Yeah, see how nice we are?" Temari smirked. "Instead, we're going to Christmas parties…" Temari started.

"A lot of them!" Both girls said in unison.

"It's going to be so much fun, isn't it Shikamaru?" Ino cheered.

"Isn't it, Shikamaru?" Temari said threateningly if Shikamaru gave the wrong answer.

"Yeah, yeah." Shikamaru barely mumbled. "How troublesome." He muttered under his breath.

"Aww! That's what we love about you Shikamaru!" Temari hugged Shikamaru, on the left side of him, in a big bear hug.

"Yeah! _And_ because you have your own apartment now!" Ino copied Temari and hugged Shikamaru, on the right side of him, in a big bear hug.

"We love you, Shikamaru!" Ino and Temari said like little children.

Shikamaru sighed. "How troublesome."

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**A/N: **My favorite chapter I uploaded today because it's funny and cliché and sweet! lol.


	21. Chapter 20 The Aftermath

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, Sakura wouldn't have such an annoying voice in English.**

**A/N: **Last chapter! It's an epilogue-ish chapter.

**Published December 1, 2006**

**Chapter 20 - The Aftermath**

"Shikamaru seems much happier now, doesn't he?" Yoshino asked as she looked out of the window.

"Not really." Shikaku answered honestly.

Yoshino glared at Shikaku. "Yes, he _does_ look happier." Yoshino stated. Then she looked back out her window. "He's growing up so fast! He's working closely to the Hokage, he's a 'special' Chuunin, he has his own apartment now, and he has _two_ girlfriends!" Yoshino said as she wiped as happy tear from her cheek.

"Oh, Yoshino, Shikamaru's sixteen. He'll be okay. He doesn't need your help anymore. He can take care of himself. He's a genius, remember?" Shikaku said.

"A lazy genius." Yoshino corrected.

"I still don't think you should have interfered with Shikamaru's personal life. It's _his_ life." Shikaku opinionated.

"Well, my interference worked, didn't it?" Yoshino smirked. "I knew what I was doing. I knew everything that happened would happen. Those two girls are as predictable as you, Shikaku."

Shikaku crossed his arms and pouted. "I'm not that predictable." He said like a little boy.

"Predictable enough…" Yoshino grinned.

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"See, we never had to fight. We got along just fine!" Ino said.

"Yup, just fine!" Temari agreed.

"Are you sure you two are okay with this?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. It was kind of awkward going on a date with two girls. He's never been on a date with one girl, so how was he supposed to date two?

"Don't worry, Shika-kun, we're mature. We can handle anything." Ino winked.

"Yeah, crybaby. No problems at all." Temari smirked.

"How troublesome."

"So, when do you get your apartment?" Temari asked straightforward.

"Yeah, when do you get your apartment, Shika-kun?" Ino asked as well.

"I don't know." Shikamaru said plainly. "I don't really care. I'd rather live at home."

"Shikamaru! How can you say that! Do you know how long I've wanted to live outside of my house?" Ino slapped Shikamaru in his left arm.

"Oww…" Shikamaru said lowly. "Troublesome woman."

"Yeah, Shikamaru!" Temari also slapped Shikamaru, except on his right arm this time.

"Oww…" Shikamaru said again. "Troublesome women."

"Don't make us hit you again, Shikamaru!" Temari threatened.

"Yeah, yeah." Shikamaru said.

"Only one yeah!" Ino and Temari shouted at the same time.

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_Oh yes, Shikamaru was a lucky duck alright. He had two beautiful kunoichis at his side always ready to whip him when it's needed. Shikamaru may not have liked it very much, but Naruto and Kiba loved it. They especially loved to laugh in Shikamaru's face whenever he got whipped by Ino and Temari at public affairs or just on an everyday basis._

_Either way, on the inside, Shikamaru was happy with his life. There were still some ongoing rumors about him and being a player with girls, but he got over them. It wasn't true and that's all that mattered to Ino and Temari, so they never got made._

_In the end, Shikamaru truly was a lucky duck!_

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**A/N: **That's the end…seriously! I know. It's only two pages for an ending. This wasn't even a good ending! It was more of an epilogue. If I'm ever super bored or anything, I might make a sequel, though I doubt it.


End file.
